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Don't miss a previously-featured-on-HN article from the same site about taking an atomic clock up Mt. Rainier to check if you would actually gain billionths of

Don't miss a previously-featured-on-HN article from the same site about taking an atomic clock up Mt. Rainier to check if you would actually gain billionths of a second as predicted by GR: http://www.leapsecond.com/great2005/ http://www.leapsecond.com/great2005/ And pictures: http://www.leapsecond.com/great2005/tour/ http://www.leapsecond.com/great2005/tour/

systemvoltage 6y ago
I am realizing how ordinary my childhood was.
- mikepurvis 6y ago
  I know! Three atomic clocks riding in the middle and the kids in the back playing on a GameCube.
serf 6y ago
as a track marshal that routinely denies track entry (probably every single event) due to inappropriate battery mounting and wire mismanagement, these pictures terrify me. It's a cute experiment with the kids, and i'm glad they got away without injury -- but on the other hand i've witnessed first hand what a lead battery that is floating around the cabin can do during a wreck -- and what I witnessed was, sadly, deadly for the driver. single orientation nylon straps that are strapping heavy square objects against foam cushioned seats and sandwiching the chaos with human meat on both sides. It's a recipe for disaster regardless of what vector the force of the impact comes from -- and that's ignoring the batteries. Please folks , when you drive a vehicle the heavy stuff gets strapped behind a bulkhead at the front or rear of the car, or atop the car with appropriate and well-tested strapping & mounting equipment. Don't risk your life for the sake of convenience.
- throwaway0a5e 6y ago
  Do you honestly expect these people to add proper tie down points to the floor of a minivan for a one time trip? The batteries are behind a seat row, the stuff in the seat is strapped in, the loose stuff is in the pass front foot well per OSHA guidelines (I figure most here worship at that altar). It'll be fine. They're not tracking the minivan. I know that every time something like this is posted everyone likes to swoop in and talk about how X or Y is unsafe and you need eye protection every time you pick up a screwdriver and fall protection every time you even glance sideways at a step ladder because that's a way to score easy virtue points but it just comes across as tone deaf posturing. They aren't driving the van around like this 40hr a week for an entire career likewise it is not reasonable to expect them to implement a tie down solution that scales to that level.
  - gambiting 6y ago
    If we were only talking about something that is dangerous at say, 100mph+, then sure - just drive slowly, it will be fine. This is just isn't - this stuff will kill you in a 30mph collision. If you saw someone put a baby on the hood and drive around like that would you also say "oh do you expect these people to secure their babies for a one time trip - relax!". Like, it's just not safe. At all. And the fact that it's a one-off makes it worse, not better - they won't be used to the handling a van this heavy, you will try to come to a stop and discover you're missing a car length - enough to get t-boned by a truck. I don't know why people treat it as some kind of wild and completely improbable incident that just won't ever happen - of course it will! These sort of things happen all the time! >>not reasonable to expect them to implement a tie down solution that scales to that level It's unreasonable to not expect them to.
    - Dylan16807 6y ago
      > they won't be used to the handling a van this heavy, you will try to come to a stop and discover you're missing a car length 200 pounds of clock in a seat, and 300 pounds of battery with a removed seat. That's on par with simply having two people sit in the middle row.
      - tvb 6y ago
        Yes, 500 pounds of gear sounds about right. I was aware that the car was slightly heavier than usual and drove accordingly. There was no hurry; it was not a race, just a leisurely weekend trip, about 2.5 hours in the car, with an average speed of maybe 35 mph. With 3 expensive clocks, 3 priceless kids, not to mention hot coffee in hand, I accelerated and decelerated modestly. The drive from Bellevue to Paradise Lodge up on Mt Rainier is mostly rural and then follows a long slow winding mountain road to 5000 ft elevation.
      - daniel957 6y ago
        If there were 4 adults (and not 2 adults and 2 kids) with that amount of extra weight in the minivan, then you would see that they would be cutting it extremely close or be over for the maximum recommended amount of weight. Besides, it’s not just the pounds that matter. Would you rather be hit by 200 pounds of hardness/sharpness/person bouncing to-and-fro or not be hit at all during a car crash cause that 200 pounds, whether object or person, was secured?
- joshu 6y ago
  i tapped a kwall in a drift car (as one does) and the battery detached and shattered. that was fun.

systemvoltage 6y ago

I am realizing how ordinary my childhood was.

mikepurvis 6y ago
I know! Three atomic clocks riding in the middle and the kids in the back playing on a GameCube.

serf 6y ago

as a track marshal that routinely denies track entry (probably every single event) due to inappropriate battery mounting and wire mismanagement, these pictures terrify me. It's a cute experiment with the kids, and i'm glad they got away without injury -- but on the other hand i've witnessed first hand what a lead battery that is floating around the cabin can do during a wreck -- and what I witnessed was, sadly, deadly for the driver. single orientation nylon straps that are strapping heavy square objects against foam cushioned seats and sandwiching the chaos with human meat on both sides. It's a recipe for disaster regardless of what vector the force of the impact comes from -- and that's ignoring the batteries. Please folks , when you drive a vehicle the heavy stuff gets strapped behind a bulkhead at the front or rear of the car, or atop the car with appropriate and well-tested strapping & mounting equipment. Don't risk your life for the sake of convenience.

throwaway0a5e 6y ago
Do you honestly expect these people to add proper tie down points to the floor of a minivan for a one time trip? The batteries are behind a seat row, the stuff in the seat is strapped in, the loose stuff is in the pass front foot well per OSHA guidelines (I figure most here worship at that altar). It'll be fine. They're not tracking the minivan. I know that every time something like this is posted everyone likes to swoop in and talk about how X or Y is unsafe and you need eye protection every time you pick up a screwdriver and fall protection every time you even glance sideways at a step ladder because that's a way to score easy virtue points but it just comes across as tone deaf posturing. They aren't driving the van around like this 40hr a week for an entire career likewise it is not reasonable to expect them to implement a tie down solution that scales to that level.
- gambiting 6y ago
  If we were only talking about something that is dangerous at say, 100mph+, then sure - just drive slowly, it will be fine. This is just isn't - this stuff will kill you in a 30mph collision. If you saw someone put a baby on the hood and drive around like that would you also say "oh do you expect these people to secure their babies for a one time trip - relax!". Like, it's just not safe. At all. And the fact that it's a one-off makes it worse, not better - they won't be used to the handling a van this heavy, you will try to come to a stop and discover you're missing a car length - enough to get t-boned by a truck. I don't know why people treat it as some kind of wild and completely improbable incident that just won't ever happen - of course it will! These sort of things happen all the time! >>not reasonable to expect them to implement a tie down solution that scales to that level It's unreasonable to not expect them to.
  - Dylan16807 6y ago
    > they won't be used to the handling a van this heavy, you will try to come to a stop and discover you're missing a car length 200 pounds of clock in a seat, and 300 pounds of battery with a removed seat. That's on par with simply having two people sit in the middle row.
    - tvb 6y ago
      Yes, 500 pounds of gear sounds about right. I was aware that the car was slightly heavier than usual and drove accordingly. There was no hurry; it was not a race, just a leisurely weekend trip, about 2.5 hours in the car, with an average speed of maybe 35 mph. With 3 expensive clocks, 3 priceless kids, not to mention hot coffee in hand, I accelerated and decelerated modestly. The drive from Bellevue to Paradise Lodge up on Mt Rainier is mostly rural and then follows a long slow winding mountain road to 5000 ft elevation.
    - daniel957 6y ago
      If there were 4 adults (and not 2 adults and 2 kids) with that amount of extra weight in the minivan, then you would see that they would be cutting it extremely close or be over for the maximum recommended amount of weight. Besides, it’s not just the pounds that matter. Would you rather be hit by 200 pounds of hardness/sharpness/person bouncing to-and-fro or not be hit at all during a car crash cause that 200 pounds, whether object or person, was secured?
joshu 6y ago
i tapped a kwall in a drift car (as one does) and the battery detached and shattered. that was fun.