C

I'm not a science guy in any technical sense of the word. But, in the big picture, I am interested in science and I trust that it works. In the same way, I am dubious of any alleged phenomena that appear to violate a law of physics that I learned in highschool. So, I am willing to entertain the notion that there might be a big green monster in Loch Ness. I doubt that there is, but it does not violate any fundamental laws of physics, so what the heck. I am, however, not willing to accept reports of psychic healing, spoon bending, haunted rocking chairs, past life regressions, astrology, or a dozen other crackpot theories.

Today, while driving to work, a report came on the radio saying that Wisconsin is close to breaking a record for the number of deaths by snowmobile in a single year. The reporter from a Wisconsin radio station said, at least three times, that a problem with snowmobiles is that at night they "get out ahead of their lights." This strikes me as a problem of cosmic importance.

I know these souped up snowmobiles are fast, but I had no idea. To actually get out ahead of their lights (assuming we are talking headlights here), they would need to be going approximately 186,000 miles per second. My understanding is that if they were to do so, they would, relative to the rest of us, be gone for thousands of years. When they get back from the quick run to the local bar in the woods, everyone they know and love would be long dead. The Earth might be run by damned dirty apes.

Making matters more complicated, as the snowmobiles approach light speeds, they would (as viewed by a bystander) get taller, thinner, and heavier. Not something most of us want. At the same time, the careening snowmobiler would see the world going by all stretched out and flat.

None of this takes into account the many problems they would have accelerating to light speeds. Start with the sonic booms. Just a few hyperspeeding snowmobiles would cause havoc with the local environment. At some point, air friction would probably cause the snowmobile to burst into flames, also causing environmental damage. I have no idea how the operator breathes or withstands the G forces.

No wonder they are having accidents.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Very funny!
Mar 25, 2006, 9:37:00 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

CAFC Decision in Double Invoicing Case

The Federal Circuit has issued a decision on the merits in United States v. Inn Foods, Inc.  There had been a previous decision on jurisdiction, which was followed by a trial at the Court of International Trade and then this appeal on the substance. The initial issue is whether Inn Foods' invoicing practice amounts to fraud.  Inn Foods had been receiving an invoice from growers in Mexico that had a relatively low sales prices on it.  Subsequent to entry, Inn Foods created a second invoice at something more similar to market value, retaining the original invoice number, and paid at that higher amount.   Superficially, this looks like a standard-issue double-invoicing scheme.  But, in the age of reconciliation, is it really more like a provisional pricing mechanism?  It might have been possible to make that argument had Inn Foods adjusted its entries accordingly.  It didn't and the loss of revenue was approximately $624,000.  Based on testimony and evidence indicating both knowl
Read more

Ninestar and UFLPA Exhaustion

Image
Exhaustion is a key doctrine in administrative law. When applicable, it requires that a party unhappy with an agency’s determination complete the administrative appeal process before turning to the courts for judicial review. Requiring exhaustion typically promotes judicial efficiency by ensuring that disputes are resolved at the agency and, if they are not, that there is a complete record of the agency process. Exhaustion also ensures that the judiciary respects the executive agencies and their expertise.  There are, on the other hand, times when the courts will find that exhaustion is not necessary or appropriate. Such is the case in  Ninestar Corporation et al. v. United States  et al., a decision of the U.S. Court of International Trade.  Ninestar is also interesting because it is one of the first cases in the CIT involving the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, known as UFLPA. In my hiatus from active blogging, I missed the rise of UFLPA as a major compliance topic. So, let's
Read more

Precious Tritium

Image
One thing I have learned as a customs lawyer who does a lot of classification work is that there are millions of odd items moving in international trade the existence of which I am completely ignorant. Such is the case of the gaseous tritium light sources used in, among other things, firearm sights. These things use tritium sealed in a glass that has been coated in phosphor. The radioactive tritium decays, releasing beta particles, which interact with the phosphor causing it to emit light. In other words, it creates light with no external power source. Pretty cool.  Tritium is, of course, a real thing. It is an isotope of hydrogen. We know this from the excellent documentary "Spider-Man." This comes up in relation to the Court of International Trade decision in Trijicon, Inc. v. United States  in which the importer challenged the tariff classification of several versions of the gaseous tritium light sources ("GTLS"). The plaintiff uses them to make gun sights. The
Read more