03-09-2014, 07:20 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-09-2014, 08:09 PM by Drew Phipps.)
It is my understanding that the prevailing theory of controlled demolition is that thermite or nano-thermite was used to sever the supports of the building in a controlled fashion. Thermite, (and presumably "nano-thermite") work primarily by applying intense heat to melt stuff quickly, not by using kinetic force to blow stuff up molecule by molecule. Hitting a support column with enough kinetic force to sever it and send it flying a couple city blocks away seems terribly wasteful, and bad planning on the part of whoever designed such a demolition.
Most of the chaos that you observe in the building's collapse is attributable to just that, chaos, as hundreds of thousands (or millions) of individual moving parts begin to interact in ways which are eminently predictable for a small number of particles, but unpredictable when you have a sufficient number of them.
Even small numbers of objects behave unpredictably at times. Have you ever seen a basketball, baseball, or soccer ball strike a solid object (other than the floor) and bounce straight up? Invariably, that upward movement was not part of the original trajectory of the ball, and in most cases that result is entirely unintended, but it happens all the time.
I have a funny and true story along thse lines. My x-wife met my parents at a dinner. As she always did, my ex squeezed lemon juice into her iced tea. As she did that, some of the juice shot out of the lemon, across the table, and right into my mother's eyes, causing her pain, tearing up, and redness. Not an auspicious beginning, but illustrative of Muphy's law at least, that unintended and unlikely chaotic consequences can attend even the simplest of our actions.
Most of the chaos that you observe in the building's collapse is attributable to just that, chaos, as hundreds of thousands (or millions) of individual moving parts begin to interact in ways which are eminently predictable for a small number of particles, but unpredictable when you have a sufficient number of them.
Even small numbers of objects behave unpredictably at times. Have you ever seen a basketball, baseball, or soccer ball strike a solid object (other than the floor) and bounce straight up? Invariably, that upward movement was not part of the original trajectory of the ball, and in most cases that result is entirely unintended, but it happens all the time.
I have a funny and true story along thse lines. My x-wife met my parents at a dinner. As she always did, my ex squeezed lemon juice into her iced tea. As she did that, some of the juice shot out of the lemon, across the table, and right into my mother's eyes, causing her pain, tearing up, and redness. Not an auspicious beginning, but illustrative of Muphy's law at least, that unintended and unlikely chaotic consequences can attend even the simplest of our actions.
"All that is necessary for tyranny to succeed is for good men to do nothing." (unknown)
James Tracy: "There is sometimes an undue amount of paranoia among some conspiracy researchers that can contribute to flawed observations and analysis."
Gary Cornwell (Dept. Chief Counsel HSCA): "A fact merely marks the point at which we have agreed to let investigation cease."
Alan Ford: "Just because you believe it, that doesn't make it so."
James Tracy: "There is sometimes an undue amount of paranoia among some conspiracy researchers that can contribute to flawed observations and analysis."
Gary Cornwell (Dept. Chief Counsel HSCA): "A fact merely marks the point at which we have agreed to let investigation cease."
Alan Ford: "Just because you believe it, that doesn't make it so."