1 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:14,880 Speaker 2: Hey you welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. My 3 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:16,239 Speaker 2: name is Robert Lamb. 4 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:19,599 Speaker 3: And I am Joe McCormick. And today on Stuff to 5 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:23,520 Speaker 3: Blow Your Mind, I wanted to talk about burning hair. 6 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:27,080 Speaker 3: That might be a kind of unusually niche or weird 7 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 3: thing to look into. But I was inspired to do 8 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:32,000 Speaker 3: this a couple of weeks ago, on the fourth of 9 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:36,320 Speaker 3: July actually, when I was making food for a big 10 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 3: family get together. You know, I was out in the 11 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:42,120 Speaker 3: backyard grilling, and I did something I have done many 12 00:00:42,159 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 3: times before, which is burn all the hair off part 13 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:48,239 Speaker 3: of my arm. Oh no, yeah, turn and look. I 14 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:51,879 Speaker 3: mean like I wasn't like badly burned myself, like on 15 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:54,480 Speaker 3: my skin, but you know, at some point I looked 16 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:56,400 Speaker 3: down and realized, like, oh, what are all these weird 17 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 3: little kind of pale curls. Oh I see? Okay. 18 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 2: Do you say you've done this before? Do you at 19 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 2: least alternate arms or is it just always the same 20 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:06,000 Speaker 2: arm that it gets? 21 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:08,560 Speaker 3: It's always my right arm because that's the arm I'm 22 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:11,520 Speaker 3: right handed doing that, you know, That's what I'm manipulating 23 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:14,040 Speaker 3: the food with. You know, sometimes it's more the hand, 24 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 3: like the I don't know if it's gross to talk 25 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:19,679 Speaker 3: about your hand hair, like the hair on my knuckles, 26 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:21,360 Speaker 3: the hair on my back, the back of my hand 27 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:24,200 Speaker 3: that gets burned off. This time, it was mainly along 28 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:27,080 Speaker 3: like my forearm and the outside of my wrist. I 29 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:30,800 Speaker 3: wonder if other grill operators have had similar experiences, because 30 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 3: I never burn my hand or arm hair when I'm 31 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:38,200 Speaker 3: grilling a small amount of food, like a couple of 32 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:40,880 Speaker 3: portions of whatever. It's always when I'm grilling for a 33 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 3: big crowd. So I guess it has something to do 34 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:46,840 Speaker 3: with like trying to like fit a bunch of different 35 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:50,000 Speaker 3: individual items on the grill and then go down the 36 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:52,120 Speaker 3: line flipping them or moving them one at a time, 37 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:55,280 Speaker 3: and something about that means like I'm holding my arm 38 00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 3: directly over the hot part of the grill more or something. 39 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:00,400 Speaker 2: Ah, well, that that would make sense, because I was 40 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:02,000 Speaker 2: thinking about this, was like, Okay, I don't know that 41 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:06,080 Speaker 2: I've ever done this myself, but I think look back 42 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 2: on all on the grilling I have done over the years, 43 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:13,000 Speaker 2: and it is generally just grilling for probably just for 44 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 2: my immediate family. So it's feeling just for like two 45 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:17,799 Speaker 2: or three people, it's probably just going to be veggies 46 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:21,359 Speaker 2: that aren't on there very long. And yeah, for I 47 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:23,600 Speaker 2: guess a variety of reasons, and luck I have not 48 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:27,360 Speaker 2: like burnt a lot of arm hair on the grill, 49 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:29,680 Speaker 2: but I have to, so I have to ask like 50 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:32,520 Speaker 2: the follow up questions, like what you mentioned what it 51 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 2: looked like, but that it was was that the primary 52 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:37,200 Speaker 2: way that you realize something had happened, or was there 53 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:40,000 Speaker 2: also like a skin level sensation And was there a smell? 54 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:40,520 Speaker 1: Uh? 55 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:43,600 Speaker 3: I mean, there's there's the feeling of heat obviously, which 56 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 3: but that's just naturally the air because like I'm reaching 57 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:50,560 Speaker 3: over a hot fire, I think there is a smell normal, 58 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 3: And in fact, I would say that the smell is 59 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:58,240 Speaker 3: probably the most characteristic and instantly recognizable sensory part of 60 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 3: the burning hair experience. Right, I mean, almost anybody I 61 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:05,480 Speaker 3: think can immediately think of the smell of burning hair. 62 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:08,359 Speaker 3: It seems to stick in people's minds, even if hair 63 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 3: burning is like not something that happens very often to them. 64 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 3: It's just sort of I don't know, do you know 65 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:15,200 Speaker 3: what I mean, Like it just sort of like sticks 66 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:16,880 Speaker 3: in your memory what that smells like? 67 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:19,960 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, we'd be kind of wired, I guess, 68 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:21,639 Speaker 2: to recognize. 69 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:24,120 Speaker 3: It specifically in the context of grilling, though, there are 70 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:26,079 Speaker 3: already a lot of volatiles in the air, there's a 71 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:28,880 Speaker 3: lot of smoke, a lot of particles and everything. It's 72 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:33,359 Speaker 3: an intense smell experience already, So I think the smell 73 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:35,720 Speaker 3: of the burning hair, especially if there's only a little 74 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 3: bit of it, just kind of blends in more. You 75 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:40,040 Speaker 3: might not notice that first. In this case. Yeah, I 76 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:42,600 Speaker 3: remember just like looking down at my arm, the part 77 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:44,560 Speaker 3: that had been hot, and being like, oh, yeah, that 78 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:45,200 Speaker 3: happened again. 79 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:47,520 Speaker 2: Okay that yeah, that would make sense. There are a 80 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 2: lot of competing smells going on there. Yeah. 81 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:54,360 Speaker 3: But anyway, this experience got me wondering about the science 82 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:56,960 Speaker 3: of burning hair. I started to wonder, you know, some 83 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:01,200 Speaker 3: questions about the basic science and chemistry involve like how 84 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 3: flammable is human hair, and why does it smell that way? 85 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 3: And so forth. I was looking around for good sources 86 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:13,000 Speaker 3: on the on the question of the sort of the 87 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:18,600 Speaker 3: underlying chemistry of the smell of burning hair, and basically 88 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:22,839 Speaker 3: the best sources I found pointed me to the presence 89 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:26,960 Speaker 3: of sulfur. Of course, hair is mostly made of keratin, 90 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:31,760 Speaker 3: which is primarily protein, and of course those proteins, when 91 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:35,200 Speaker 3: they're burned, release their own sort of smells. There are 92 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:39,200 Speaker 3: characteristic protein burning smells that we might associate with the 93 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 3: burning of other types of skin and even fingernails and 94 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:47,280 Speaker 3: things like that. But a big thing is the presence 95 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:49,800 Speaker 3: of sulfur. According to a paper that I'm going to 96 00:04:49,839 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 3: mention in a little bit, human hair is approximately five 97 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:59,960 Speaker 3: percent sulfur, and that sulfur content is largely responsible for 98 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:03,480 Speaker 3: or the characteristic smell. And this is interesting to me 99 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:06,880 Speaker 3: because it explains a similarity at least as far as 100 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:10,560 Speaker 3: I can remember. That burning hair, to me, smells a 101 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:14,520 Speaker 3: little bit like lighting a match. Lighting a match produces 102 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:18,919 Speaker 3: the distinctive smell of sulfur dioxide or generally sulfur compounds, 103 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:25,240 Speaker 3: which happened because there is usually sulfur content in a matchhead. 104 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:28,080 Speaker 3: It's part of what burns to set the match alight. 105 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:31,520 Speaker 3: As a side note, apparently it is kind of known 106 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:37,520 Speaker 3: that you can temporarily mask other unpleasant smells. A commonly 107 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:41,480 Speaker 3: referenced one is the smell of feces by striking a match. 108 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:42,599 Speaker 3: Have you ever heard this before? 109 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:44,760 Speaker 2: Rob? Oh? Yeah, yeah, of course, you know. I mean 110 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:50,160 Speaker 2: sometimes even see that in at least residential bathrooms, you know, 111 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:55,320 Speaker 2: there will be like some matches out by the bathroom facilities, 112 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:55,880 Speaker 2: that sort of thing. 113 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:58,560 Speaker 3: Oh, that's interesting. I don't know if I ever made 114 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:00,680 Speaker 3: that connection, I would have assumed that if there were 115 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:03,240 Speaker 3: matches out, they're usually paired with a candle, and the 116 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:06,279 Speaker 3: idea is that you would use the matches to light 117 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:09,279 Speaker 3: like a pleasantly scented candle. And I always understood that 118 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 3: as the ideas you would use a pleasantly scented candle 119 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 3: to mask the smell of feces in a bathroom or something. 120 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:18,840 Speaker 2: I guess often but not always, I guess. And then 121 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:21,720 Speaker 2: there is also like the kind of just a saying 122 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:24,200 Speaker 2: right like oh, there's a bad smell that may be 123 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:27,840 Speaker 2: associated with digestion. Someone will be like, ah, somebody light 124 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:28,600 Speaker 2: a match, you know. 125 00:06:29,279 --> 00:06:32,320 Speaker 3: Oh okay, Well, I may have misunderstood those sayings as well. 126 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:35,839 Speaker 3: I probably would interpret that as like, I don't know, 127 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:38,000 Speaker 3: what's the polite way of putting it, lighting a fart 128 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:38,840 Speaker 3: kind of comment. 129 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:42,760 Speaker 2: Well, I don't Well, I'm not sure that that was 130 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:44,920 Speaker 2: the level of excitement, like it's a bad smell in here, 131 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:47,120 Speaker 2: let's see if it can busts. It's more like there's 132 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:49,640 Speaker 2: an unpleasant odor. Let us light a match so that 133 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:54,000 Speaker 2: the smell of that struck match might mask the stink 134 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:54,960 Speaker 2: that has enveloped us. 135 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:57,800 Speaker 3: Yeah, okay, well, so now I'm understanding several things about 136 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:01,719 Speaker 3: the world differently than I did before this conversation. But anyway, 137 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:03,599 Speaker 3: so it makes me think about I see like a 138 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:06,080 Speaker 3: candle in the bathroom and some matches. Maybe I'm thinking 139 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 3: about the mechanism differently. It's actually the lighting of the 140 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:13,200 Speaker 3: match more so than the candle that helps, sort of 141 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:16,200 Speaker 3: like calm your mind about the smells in there. But anyway, 142 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:19,720 Speaker 3: the idea is that the sulfur compounds released by striking 143 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:25,240 Speaker 3: a match overpower other smells in our olfactory recognition. I 144 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:27,720 Speaker 3: have seen it written in a couple of places that 145 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:29,840 Speaker 3: the idea is when you strike a match like it 146 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:33,679 Speaker 3: burns up the bad gases responsible for causing the smell 147 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:35,320 Speaker 3: in the air. That does not seem to be true. 148 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:38,480 Speaker 3: It's more kind of like your nose and your brain 149 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:42,080 Speaker 3: are primed to just let the smell of the struck match. 150 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 3: I think this will be primarily the smell of sulfur dioxide. 151 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:48,960 Speaker 3: It just take over your smell sensing abilities. But it 152 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:51,679 Speaker 3: makes me wonder if the burning of hair also releases 153 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:54,840 Speaker 3: these sulfur compounds that are responsible for the characteristic smell, 154 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:59,040 Speaker 3: if you could likewise cover up the you know, these 155 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:02,680 Speaker 3: unpleasant bodies body aroma's, fecal smells and stuff by burning hair. 156 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:10,160 Speaker 2: Well we're not advising that, no, no, but just from 157 00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:22,640 Speaker 2: like a chemical standpoint, okay, perhaps so. 158 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:26,240 Speaker 3: One of the most surprising and interesting things I discovered 159 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:30,720 Speaker 3: by looking into these questions about the science of burning 160 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:33,080 Speaker 3: hair was that some of the best research I could 161 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:36,880 Speaker 3: find on this came from studies about hair catching on 162 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:38,680 Speaker 3: fire in spaceships. 163 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:43,640 Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, attack ships on fire off the shoulder of orion, right, yeah. 164 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:46,200 Speaker 3: Yeah. So the main paper I was looking at is 165 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:50,400 Speaker 3: called the Flammability of Human Hair in Exploration Atmospheres from 166 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:53,319 Speaker 3: the year two thousand and nine in the SAE Journal 167 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:58,959 Speaker 3: International Journal of Aerospace by Sandra L. Olson, Devon W. Griffin, 168 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:02,520 Speaker 3: David L. L. Be, Gary A. Ruff, and Elizabeth A. Smith. 169 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:08,079 Speaker 3: And so the authors here begin by referencing an older 170 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:11,040 Speaker 3: study that I'll mention in a second that says the 171 00:09:11,559 --> 00:09:14,679 Speaker 3: flammability of both skin and hair has actually been a 172 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:19,760 Speaker 3: subject of major concern since the early stages of the 173 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:23,720 Speaker 3: US BASE program, and they refer back to an older paper, 174 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:28,040 Speaker 3: one from nineteen sixty eight by Robert L. Durfey called 175 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:32,160 Speaker 3: the Flammability of Skin and Hair in Oxygen enriched Atmospheres. 176 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:36,320 Speaker 3: This was published in the OR as part of a 177 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:41,160 Speaker 3: USAF School of Aerospace Medicine technical report. This was from 178 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:46,319 Speaker 3: December nineteen sixty eight, and durfy begins this study from 179 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:50,440 Speaker 3: sixty eight by saying, quote, observations after recent fires involving 180 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:54,800 Speaker 3: human subjects in oxygen atmospheres indicate that the humans may 181 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:58,200 Speaker 3: have contributed to the spread of fires through combustion of 182 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:02,600 Speaker 3: their skin and hair. So obviously that's quite morbid. But 183 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:06,560 Speaker 3: I was wondering what this refers to, and I figured 184 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:09,400 Speaker 3: that since this was published in nineteen sixty eight, I 185 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:11,720 Speaker 3: think it almost certainly must be referring, at least in 186 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:14,760 Speaker 3: part to the tragedy of the Apollo one fire, which 187 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:18,720 Speaker 3: killed three astronauts on January twenty seventh, nineteen sixty seven. 188 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:23,080 Speaker 3: Those astronauts were Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger B. Chaffey, 189 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:25,640 Speaker 3: and they died during a launch test that was less 190 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:28,079 Speaker 3: than a month before the scheduled mission, so they weren't 191 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:30,840 Speaker 3: actually in space. It was a ground test on Earth 192 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:35,600 Speaker 3: before the launch of an orbital mission. And the tragedy 193 00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:39,280 Speaker 3: was that a flash fire broke out inside the cabin 194 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:43,439 Speaker 3: of the command module. The fire probably started with There 195 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:45,520 Speaker 3: could have been several ignition points, but it may have 196 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:49,640 Speaker 3: been an electrical arc from faulty wiring, maybe connected to 197 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:52,760 Speaker 3: some kind of chemical present like a volume of anti 198 00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:57,360 Speaker 3: freeze fluid called glycol. But however it started, it spread 199 00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:02,280 Speaker 3: very rapidly due to the enriched oxgen atmosphere pressurized inside 200 00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:05,360 Speaker 3: the cabin. It was basically pure oxygen in there, and 201 00:11:05,559 --> 00:11:08,439 Speaker 3: due to a variety of combustible materials spread throughout the 202 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:11,199 Speaker 3: cabin interior. Now, remember, as we've talked about on the 203 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:14,360 Speaker 3: show before, fire needs three things to burn. It needs heat, 204 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:18,720 Speaker 3: it needs fuel, and it needs oxygen. Obviously, in this scenario, 205 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:21,080 Speaker 3: there could have been an initial heat source, some kind 206 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:24,840 Speaker 3: of ignition point. There would have been lots of oxygen 207 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:28,480 Speaker 3: because it was a pure oxygen atmosphere inside the command module. 208 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:32,360 Speaker 3: And so the question is what was the fuel and 209 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:36,000 Speaker 3: what was the fuel roll of various substances including parts 210 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:39,640 Speaker 3: of human bodies inside the command module, and so this 211 00:11:39,679 --> 00:11:42,880 Speaker 3: study was looking into human hair and skin, and so 212 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:45,760 Speaker 3: one thing it says that is that taken as a whole, 213 00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:51,880 Speaker 3: even with enriched oxygen around, human skin is not especially 214 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:55,280 Speaker 3: flammable because it has a lot of water in it, right, 215 00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:59,199 Speaker 3: So there is a major heat sink in human bodies 216 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:03,400 Speaker 3: where heat has to be continually applied from the outside 217 00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:05,199 Speaker 3: in order for it to burn. There's a lot of water. 218 00:12:05,280 --> 00:12:07,640 Speaker 3: That water must be turned into water vapor, so it 219 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:12,400 Speaker 3: doesn't catch fire easily. However, there are sort of little 220 00:12:12,559 --> 00:12:16,480 Speaker 3: layers on the outside of skin and also hair which 221 00:12:16,559 --> 00:12:20,680 Speaker 3: can catch fire in enriched oxygen environments much more easily. 222 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:24,400 Speaker 3: This study from sixty eight found that a high concentration 223 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:27,480 Speaker 3: of inert helium in the air in an environment, in 224 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:30,800 Speaker 3: this case seventy five percent helium, would prevent hair from 225 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:34,880 Speaker 3: burning at regular atmospheric pressure. And the study also tested 226 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:37,760 Speaker 3: various protective measures such as smearing the skin and hair 227 00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:41,959 Speaker 3: with protective lotions and greases and covering it with flame 228 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:42,880 Speaker 3: repellent cloth. 229 00:12:43,559 --> 00:12:46,760 Speaker 2: Was just shaving off all the hair just not an option. 230 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:49,320 Speaker 2: Seems like if I got to choose between the two 231 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:51,439 Speaker 2: for my space mission. I would just say, well, can 232 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:53,200 Speaker 2: we just buzz it all off? 233 00:12:53,559 --> 00:12:55,280 Speaker 3: That is an option that is discussed in the two 234 00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:57,440 Speaker 3: thousand and nine paper, which I'll come back to now. 235 00:12:57,520 --> 00:13:01,520 Speaker 3: So yeah, So initially they cite the Derfy study and 236 00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:06,280 Speaker 3: they say, as a general matter, there are several factors 237 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:09,440 Speaker 3: to consider that could increase the risk of fires within 238 00:13:09,559 --> 00:13:13,920 Speaker 3: spacecraft or space exploration testing environments. And a big one 239 00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:15,680 Speaker 3: they call out is the same thing we were just 240 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:20,880 Speaker 3: talking about, elevated oxygen levels. So in some cases ambient 241 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:25,000 Speaker 3: within spacecraft, but also in cases where supplemental oxygen is 242 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:28,480 Speaker 3: being provided through a mask. Now, when would there be 243 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:32,640 Speaker 3: supplemental oxygen inside a spacecraft, You could say, possibly in 244 00:13:32,679 --> 00:13:35,520 Speaker 3: a medical intervention for an ill or injured crew member. 245 00:13:35,559 --> 00:13:38,880 Speaker 3: They might have extra oxygen supplied to them. This is 246 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:42,440 Speaker 3: common in hospitals on Earth as well, or possibly during 247 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:46,040 Speaker 3: emergencies such as the leak of toxic chemicals or in 248 00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:49,720 Speaker 3: fighting a pre existing fire. Now, the authors point out 249 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:52,719 Speaker 3: something interesting about the case of breathing pure oxygen through 250 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:56,520 Speaker 3: a mask. They say, quote, for every breath of pure 251 00:13:56,559 --> 00:14:01,680 Speaker 3: oxygen breathed in, the exhaled breath still contains ninety five 252 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:06,040 Speaker 3: percent of the oxygen. This creates an environment of increased 253 00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:09,920 Speaker 3: oxygen near the head and chest. Now I did not 254 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:12,200 Speaker 3: know that and don't think I would have thought about 255 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:15,280 Speaker 3: that before, but from what I looked up in other sources, yes, 256 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:19,200 Speaker 3: this seems right. In breathing say normal air on Earth, 257 00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:23,240 Speaker 3: which is roughly twenty one percent oxygen and the rest 258 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:27,200 Speaker 3: is mostly nitrogen. In rough terms, that air on Earth. 259 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:30,520 Speaker 3: You know, if you say twenty percent is oxygen, about 260 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:34,560 Speaker 3: fifteen percent of the air you breathe out is oxygen. 261 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:38,160 Speaker 3: So what happened to that missing five percent of the air, Well, 262 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:41,600 Speaker 3: about five percent of the air is oxygen that is 263 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:44,240 Speaker 3: absorbed by the lungs. So when you breathe in, you 264 00:14:44,280 --> 00:14:47,160 Speaker 3: absorb about five percent of the air, about a quarter 265 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:49,800 Speaker 3: of the total oxygen content of the air, and then 266 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:52,960 Speaker 3: that oxygen is replaced mostly with carbon dioxide when you 267 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:56,080 Speaker 3: breathe out. So that leaves you with what the author said. 268 00:14:56,120 --> 00:14:58,680 Speaker 3: If you're breathing pure oxygen, say throw a mask in 269 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:01,600 Speaker 3: one of these scenarios, what you breathe out would be 270 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:04,920 Speaker 3: roughly ninety five percent oxygen. So the area around your 271 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:06,880 Speaker 3: head as you're exhaling is going to have a lot 272 00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:11,040 Speaker 3: more oxygen in it than it normally would now note 273 00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:15,320 Speaker 3: with regard to ambient oxygen, the oxygen levels used in 274 00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:20,520 Speaker 3: different space exploration and environments have varied. The International Space 275 00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:25,760 Speaker 3: Station actually maintains roughly the Earth's atmosphere mixture of gases 276 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:28,600 Speaker 3: in the air, so about twenty one percent oxygen. The 277 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:33,760 Speaker 3: rest is nitrogen, but the nitrogen has to be supplied 278 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:37,640 Speaker 3: through like bringing up tanks of nitrogen to make up 279 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:42,880 Speaker 3: that difference. So that and other considerations have led people 280 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:45,040 Speaker 3: to plan that in some other cases there might be 281 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:49,560 Speaker 3: higher levels of oxygen in the atmosphere breathed within space 282 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:53,240 Speaker 3: exploration contexts in the future. The author's cite a few 283 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:55,960 Speaker 3: other examples. They cite past examples as well. They say 284 00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:59,320 Speaker 3: the Apollo missions and sky Lab used higher oxygen levels, 285 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:02,520 Speaker 3: and as of the time of this paper, there were 286 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:04,880 Speaker 3: plans for other missions that the authors say would have 287 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:10,240 Speaker 3: used higher oxygen concentrations. They cite the Orion Crew exploration vehicle. 288 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:14,600 Speaker 3: They cite the Altai Lander, which would have been at 289 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:16,840 Speaker 3: the time this mission was planned, would have been a 290 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:20,240 Speaker 3: landing vehicle for a US mission returning to the Moon, 291 00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:23,960 Speaker 3: and they also talk about higher oxygen concentrations in possible 292 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:28,480 Speaker 3: lunar surface habitats, So there would be numerous scenarios where 293 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:32,000 Speaker 3: you're in a space exploration context and you would have 294 00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:36,240 Speaker 3: increased oxygen levels. Either there's just ambiently increased oxygen in 295 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:39,120 Speaker 3: the particular mission or vehicle you're talking about, or you 296 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:41,920 Speaker 3: might be needing to give somebody oxygen for some reason, 297 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:45,200 Speaker 3: in which case there would be much increased oxygen around 298 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:48,760 Speaker 3: their head and chest. The authors also point out that 299 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:53,920 Speaker 3: certain medical interventions could provide ignition points, such as you 300 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:58,480 Speaker 3: could potentially start a fire during defibrillation, and this could 301 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:02,120 Speaker 3: happen even on Earth. Really, yes, I went and read 302 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:04,880 Speaker 3: about this. It seems to put some fears at rest. 303 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:08,520 Speaker 3: It is very rare. This is not something that commonly happens, 304 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:12,760 Speaker 3: but there have been reported cases. For example, the following study. 305 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:15,879 Speaker 3: I was looking at a study published in the Journal 306 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:18,880 Speaker 3: of the American College of Cardiology by Sanchez at All 307 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:22,560 Speaker 3: from the year twenty twenty three. It talks about a 308 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:25,560 Speaker 3: case where a seventy two year old male showed up 309 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:30,719 Speaker 3: at the emergency room. He was suffering atrial fibrillation an 310 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:34,880 Speaker 3: erratic elevated heart rate, and there were several interventions, including 311 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:38,240 Speaker 3: the use of a defibrillator to stabilize the regular heartbeat. 312 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:41,280 Speaker 3: So they put the leads on your chest and they 313 00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:44,600 Speaker 3: send a charge to try to synchronize the muscles of 314 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:49,560 Speaker 3: the heart. The report says, quote, the defibrillator pads ignited 315 00:17:49,720 --> 00:17:53,520 Speaker 3: in flames after the defibrillation button was pressed. The betting 316 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:56,800 Speaker 3: and oxygen mask also caught fire. Now that's something you 317 00:17:56,800 --> 00:17:59,800 Speaker 3: don't usually think of happening. However, the author stressed that 318 00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:02,440 Speaker 3: this is extremely rare. They say there are only two 319 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:05,600 Speaker 3: known cases in the medical literature that they could identify. 320 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:09,879 Speaker 3: And also fortunately the patient did not suffer actually suffer 321 00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:14,120 Speaker 3: burn injuries. What was burned appeared to be the pads 322 00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:16,960 Speaker 3: and the patient's body hair in some parts of the bedding. 323 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:20,359 Speaker 3: But they say to avoid this happening, there are several 324 00:18:20,359 --> 00:18:23,200 Speaker 3: steps you can do. Of course, the increased oxygen from 325 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:26,600 Speaker 3: supplemental oxygen probably contributed here, so they say you can 326 00:18:27,359 --> 00:18:32,200 Speaker 3: remove or place oxygen masks or nasal canula further away 327 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:35,480 Speaker 3: from the patient's chest when you're doing a defibrillation charge. 328 00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:39,239 Speaker 3: They say that you can prepare the pads better, make 329 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:43,760 Speaker 3: sure that they have complete attachment to the chest wall. 330 00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:47,600 Speaker 3: They say, chest hair should be trimmed ideally that that helps, 331 00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:51,000 Speaker 3: and they also say avoid alcohol products during the preparation 332 00:18:51,119 --> 00:18:54,879 Speaker 3: for the defib anyway, So that was sort of a tangent. 333 00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:58,800 Speaker 3: But defibrillation is one of the scenarios the authors mentioned 334 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:02,919 Speaker 3: that could possibly provide an ignition point in space. But 335 00:19:03,359 --> 00:19:05,960 Speaker 3: coming back to the burning hair in space study, the 336 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:10,240 Speaker 3: authors also mentioned cauterization as a medical procedure that could 337 00:19:10,280 --> 00:19:14,240 Speaker 3: provide increased risk of fire in an oxygen enriched environment. 338 00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:18,919 Speaker 3: So you pair the oxygenerate atmosphere in some spacecraft and 339 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:23,320 Speaker 3: space exploration environments with various ignition scenarios, and you've got 340 00:19:23,359 --> 00:19:26,879 Speaker 3: the heat and the oxygen. So the third ingredient is fuel, 341 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:30,000 Speaker 3: and here the authors point to the presence of potentially 342 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:34,480 Speaker 3: flammable clothing and hair. Now in addition to the specific 343 00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:39,040 Speaker 3: medical ignition scenarios mentioned above like defibrillation and cauterization, the 344 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:43,280 Speaker 3: authors note the conclusion of previous research, especially regarding Apollo one, 345 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:48,840 Speaker 3: that it should basically be considered impossible to eliminate all 346 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:52,960 Speaker 3: ignition sources in a spacecraft environment. You're always going to 347 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:57,600 Speaker 3: have things that could generate sparks or electrical arcs or 348 00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:02,159 Speaker 3: hot surfaces so way to limit the risk of fire 349 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:06,399 Speaker 3: is to control access of those ignition sources to fuel 350 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:10,440 Speaker 3: by removing combustible materials or making them less combustible. 351 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:14,639 Speaker 2: You know, I've been watching enough alien movies recently to 352 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:18,040 Speaker 2: of course know that standard issue. If you're going on 353 00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:20,439 Speaker 2: a space mission, you have a flamethrower on board, you 354 00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:22,840 Speaker 2: have or at least a flamer unit. I don't think 355 00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:25,520 Speaker 2: it's it's necessary. It's not nothing that's supposed to be 356 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:27,879 Speaker 2: like spitting jelly gasoline or anything like that, Like not 357 00:20:27,920 --> 00:20:30,840 Speaker 2: a military flame thrower, but still a unit that shoots 358 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:33,199 Speaker 2: a big plume of fire at things. 359 00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:36,520 Speaker 3: Why do they have that, That's a good question. Is 360 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:39,480 Speaker 3: there an industrial use or do they make them? Maybe 361 00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:40,600 Speaker 3: they make them now that. 362 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:43,360 Speaker 2: I I think sometimes that's the case. But I don't 363 00:20:43,359 --> 00:20:46,119 Speaker 2: know the best I could do putting this together, watching 364 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:48,280 Speaker 2: the films in the back of my mind, always thinking 365 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:51,200 Speaker 2: like flamer is probably not a great idea in an enclosed, 366 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:54,040 Speaker 2: sealed environment without even factoring in and all the stuff 367 00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:57,760 Speaker 2: we've been talking about here. But I'm guessing you could 368 00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:00,639 Speaker 2: make a case for okay, if you are dealing with 369 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:04,919 Speaker 2: some sort of a life form situa biological threat, like 370 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:07,440 Speaker 2: some sort of a bug, not a full blown xenomorph, 371 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:11,000 Speaker 2: you know, but just kind of whatever is expected to occur. 372 00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:12,679 Speaker 2: Then I guess you can make a case for a 373 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:16,080 Speaker 2: flame unit. And then on top of that, if you're 374 00:21:16,119 --> 00:21:19,560 Speaker 2: looking at some sort of a potential like boarding scenario, 375 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:22,040 Speaker 2: like a boarding action, like people coming on your ship, 376 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:24,239 Speaker 2: they aren't supposed to be there and you want to 377 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:29,520 Speaker 2: encourage them to leave or to back off, I guess 378 00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:31,639 Speaker 2: a flame unit you could make some sort of a 379 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:33,879 Speaker 2: case that a flame unit is better than a gun 380 00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:37,199 Speaker 2: that could potentially puncture the whole. But I don't know. Okay, 381 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:40,000 Speaker 2: once you factor all this in, though, is the risk 382 00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:41,679 Speaker 2: of fire greater? I don't know. 383 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:44,240 Speaker 3: I think we'll have to assume that, like the Nostromo 384 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:47,919 Speaker 3: and other alien environments, just to use, they're more like 385 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:51,040 Speaker 3: the ISS, like they supply the nitrogen. They have a 386 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:55,880 Speaker 3: more earth like atmosphere rather than the oxygen enriched atmospheres 387 00:21:55,960 --> 00:21:58,320 Speaker 3: that would increase the risk of using flames. 388 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:00,680 Speaker 2: Sure, Plus everything's a little bit wet than a stromo, 389 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:02,159 Speaker 2: so maybe that helps. 390 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:05,880 Speaker 3: Now. The authors of this paper note that a lot 391 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:09,600 Speaker 3: of individual mission durations are short enough that astronauts don't 392 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:12,000 Speaker 3: need to cut their hair in space, but even that 393 00:22:12,119 --> 00:22:15,959 Speaker 3: does happen. Sometimes the space haircuts are real. They include 394 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:18,920 Speaker 3: a photo from the ISS of a space haircut where 395 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:22,879 Speaker 3: Russian cosmonaut Valerie Corzun is doing a haircut for the 396 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:25,840 Speaker 3: American astronaut Peggy Whitson in the year two thousand and two. 397 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:28,159 Speaker 3: And you can see like he's got the scissors and 398 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:30,800 Speaker 3: a comb in his hands and she's holding a like 399 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:33,480 Speaker 3: a hose up by her head. It's a vacuum cleaner hose, 400 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:35,640 Speaker 3: and I guess that's to suck in all the clippings 401 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:38,280 Speaker 3: right as their release, because man, oh, you think hair 402 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:41,800 Speaker 3: gets everywhere during a normal Earth haircut with regular gravity, 403 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:43,560 Speaker 3: you know, I feel like I get a haircut in 404 00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:46,480 Speaker 3: days later, I'm still finding hair. It's like I'm not 405 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:50,600 Speaker 3: even wearing the same clothes. What's going on. But yeah, 406 00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:53,920 Speaker 3: so in microgravity you could imagine it's a real headache. 407 00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:55,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel like you got to make a strong 408 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:58,639 Speaker 2: case for that haircut and or be really good with 409 00:22:58,680 --> 00:22:59,440 Speaker 2: that vacuum house. 410 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:02,760 Speaker 3: But anyway, given all these considerations, it's important to know 411 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:07,240 Speaker 3: for planning future space missions in these abnormal atmospheric and 412 00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:11,440 Speaker 3: gravity conditions and especially in more unique scenarios where you 413 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:15,560 Speaker 3: would need to supply somebody with supplemental oxygen. How flammable 414 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:18,440 Speaker 3: are the fuel sources you would find inside a spaceship, 415 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:20,760 Speaker 3: And in the case of this study, they looked into 416 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:25,120 Speaker 3: how flammable is human hair with these increased concentrations of oxygen. 417 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:28,879 Speaker 3: So the authors did some experiments. They tried to simulate 418 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:32,639 Speaker 3: what it's like in various space exploration environments using an 419 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:36,120 Speaker 3: apparatus called a low speed flow tunnel, where you maintain 420 00:23:36,359 --> 00:23:40,240 Speaker 3: a forced flow of a controlled gas mixture. In this case, 421 00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:44,280 Speaker 3: it was mounted inside of a NASA Zero Gravity Research 422 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:47,919 Speaker 3: Facility drop rig, so that was to simulate different gravity conditions. 423 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:51,320 Speaker 3: They tried a few different lengths and styles of human hair. 424 00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:54,840 Speaker 3: They mounted them on a rack, and they said that 425 00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:57,960 Speaker 3: basically the flame spread was pretty similar for the different 426 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:02,560 Speaker 3: hair styles tested different lengths. The spread was sort of 427 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:05,879 Speaker 3: quick at first over the sort of frizzy outer layer 428 00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:08,600 Speaker 3: of the surface of a hair mass, and then would 429 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:12,840 Speaker 3: be followed, especially in the cases of longer hair where 430 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:16,240 Speaker 3: there's a lot of hair, followed by quote continued bulk burning. 431 00:24:17,119 --> 00:24:20,120 Speaker 3: And they found that, oh, yeah, it is absolutely right 432 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:23,720 Speaker 3: that increasing oxygen will increase the flame spread rate of 433 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:27,040 Speaker 3: hair significantly. They say it's by more than an order 434 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:31,359 Speaker 3: of magnitude, so it's major. And Rabbi included a couple 435 00:24:31,359 --> 00:24:34,360 Speaker 3: of pictures for you to look at here of what 436 00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:38,159 Speaker 3: the hair looked like after being exposed to fire in 437 00:24:38,359 --> 00:24:43,760 Speaker 3: normal atmosphere versus in a thirty percent oxygen atmosphere, and 438 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:47,160 Speaker 3: it's a major difference. The thirty percent oxygen one looks 439 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:50,440 Speaker 3: way more like a matted mass of keratin ash goo. 440 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:54,840 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, absolutely, Chris, So this is something that I 441 00:24:54,840 --> 00:24:56,959 Speaker 3: don't think I ever would have thought of before, but 442 00:24:57,240 --> 00:25:00,399 Speaker 3: the authors say, yes, their findings show that quote in 443 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:04,760 Speaker 3: the elevated oxygen concentration environments planned for future exploration missions, 444 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:09,560 Speaker 3: hair flammability becomes an important consideration for crue safety. With 445 00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:12,880 Speaker 3: the high flame spread rates reported here, an astronaut's entire 446 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:16,560 Speaker 3: head would be engulfed in flames in seconds, and serious 447 00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:19,720 Speaker 3: injury could occur before the flames are extinguished. It is 448 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:23,639 Speaker 3: suggested that acceptable mitigation strategies such as hair coverings be 449 00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:27,639 Speaker 3: adopted and shaving be encouraged. And they talk about a 450 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:31,440 Speaker 3: number of different interventions you could employ, so you could, yeah, 451 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:34,520 Speaker 3: you could like cut hair. You could shave parts of 452 00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:37,280 Speaker 3: the body, you could shave the head. You could cover 453 00:25:37,359 --> 00:25:41,639 Speaker 3: the hair with flame retardant kind of hair coverings and materials. 454 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:46,359 Speaker 3: You can put flame resistant gels and jellies in the hair. 455 00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:49,440 Speaker 3: They mentioned several of these that in some cases are 456 00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:52,800 Speaker 3: used and have been used. So there are different interventions 457 00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:56,480 Speaker 3: you could do. But ultimately they say, if you have 458 00:25:56,680 --> 00:26:00,399 Speaker 3: elevated oxygen levels and you are trying to prevent fires, 459 00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:02,320 Speaker 3: you really do need to think about human hair. 460 00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:04,439 Speaker 2: Wow, you know, I can't help but think about like 461 00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:07,080 Speaker 2: the sci fi ramifications. And on one level, I love 462 00:26:07,119 --> 00:26:12,040 Speaker 2: the idea of like hairless shaved astronauts. You know that 463 00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:14,760 Speaker 2: you have removed all their hair in order to prevent 464 00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:17,240 Speaker 2: this from happening. But on the other hand, I kind 465 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:19,000 Speaker 2: of like the idea of a bunch of astronauts that 466 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:22,199 Speaker 2: are using some sort of especially made palmade. Yeah, and 467 00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:24,560 Speaker 2: I'll have some sort of like a maybe slicked back 468 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:28,720 Speaker 2: greaser look going on with this special space space goop. 469 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:34,280 Speaker 3: Yeah, everybody looks like John Travolta in Greece. I mean 470 00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:38,520 Speaker 3: that they've all got the space pompadours that the Yeah, 471 00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:41,000 Speaker 3: we're like flame flame retardant jelly in there. 472 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:44,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, like the Misfits right where they have a hair 473 00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:46,520 Speaker 2: all crafted. Now, I got to keep an eye out 474 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:48,320 Speaker 2: for it. Keep watching all these space movies, and I 475 00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:51,680 Speaker 2: have not been paying enough attention to everyone's hairstyles. Which 476 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:54,680 Speaker 2: space movie has the has the most slicked back hair? 477 00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:57,760 Speaker 2: Where is the most palmde employed in science fiction? I'm 478 00:26:57,760 --> 00:26:59,160 Speaker 2: gonna have to be on the lookout for it now. 479 00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:02,000 Speaker 3: So anyway, this is one of these classic rabbit holes 480 00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:04,560 Speaker 3: I love on our show that I would not have 481 00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:06,399 Speaker 3: expected to go in this direction at all. I was 482 00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:08,920 Speaker 3: initially just looking into, like what's going on with the 483 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:11,359 Speaker 3: chemistry of burning hair, and I ended up with the 484 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:13,439 Speaker 3: threats of hair catching on fire in space. 485 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:27,480 Speaker 2: You know, we mentioned boarding actions earlier, and one of 486 00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:30,280 Speaker 2: the first places that my mind went when we started 487 00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:34,120 Speaker 2: looking into this was what about black Beard the Pirate? 488 00:27:37,119 --> 00:27:40,040 Speaker 2: So black Beard the Pirate was, of course a real 489 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:46,320 Speaker 2: person that has been mythologized and fictionalized to varying degrees 490 00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:49,240 Speaker 2: over time, But this was an actual pirate, Edward Teach, 491 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:54,280 Speaker 2: who reportedly lives sixteen eighty through seventeen eighteen. And yeah, 492 00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:57,120 Speaker 2: there's a great deal of legend about this man, including 493 00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:01,240 Speaker 2: the idea that he would affix slow matches. Sometimes these 494 00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:06,640 Speaker 2: are just called fuses, but slow matches were they would 495 00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:09,159 Speaker 2: have a like coils of this stuff. They burn slow, 496 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:12,200 Speaker 2: as the name implies, they burn very hot, and they're 497 00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:18,400 Speaker 2: used for igniting like the fuses for cannons, explosive materials, grenades, 498 00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:20,760 Speaker 2: that sort of thing, but also of course could be 499 00:28:20,840 --> 00:28:22,720 Speaker 2: used to like light pipes and so forth. 500 00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:24,960 Speaker 3: I think even at the time, well I don't know 501 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:27,080 Speaker 3: if exactly at this time, but they were used, and 502 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:30,399 Speaker 3: even handheld firearms at the time, like muskets and stuff 503 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:32,280 Speaker 3: would have like a they'd have like a powder pan 504 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:34,080 Speaker 3: with a slow match that ignited it. 505 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:36,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, and so it would be common to have these 506 00:28:36,359 --> 00:28:39,600 Speaker 2: on hand. But of course, part of the mystique of 507 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:43,160 Speaker 2: Blackbeard is that he wouldn't just have burning slow matches, 508 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:46,480 Speaker 2: say on his belt or whatnot. He would have them 509 00:28:46,920 --> 00:28:50,560 Speaker 2: under his hat. And I think this sometimes gets conflated 510 00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:54,000 Speaker 2: into being like woven into his hair or even in 511 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:59,000 Speaker 2: his beard anyway that you frame it. Slow matches in 512 00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:02,520 Speaker 2: very close proc simity to what is generally described and 513 00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:05,959 Speaker 2: or depicted as wild hair and beard. You know, Like 514 00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:08,600 Speaker 2: the idea here is that he would do this before 515 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:11,720 Speaker 2: a raid, before a boarding action to make himself look 516 00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:15,240 Speaker 2: more fearsome with those smoking fuses, with like the little 517 00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:19,400 Speaker 2: pinpoints of red ember sticking out on either side of 518 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:20,400 Speaker 2: his fearsome head. 519 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:23,120 Speaker 3: So, of course I'm familiar with the story. I've heard 520 00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:25,000 Speaker 3: it many times, but this is one of those things 521 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:29,080 Speaker 3: that has never made sense to me, because I think, like, 522 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:33,000 Speaker 3: how how do you actually do that and like operate 523 00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:36,960 Speaker 3: like move around and stuff with things on fire tangled 524 00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:39,920 Speaker 3: in your beard, And wouldn't it be producing some amount 525 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,680 Speaker 3: of smoke or fumes at least would that beginning in 526 00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:43,959 Speaker 3: your face? I don't know. 527 00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:46,320 Speaker 2: I mean, I guess it's a very just fume intensive 528 00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:50,239 Speaker 2: environment anyway, If their cannon's going off, muskets firing, and 529 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:53,560 Speaker 2: then you know folks are smoking as well, that's something 530 00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:56,560 Speaker 2: worth noting, I guess is I've never been a smoker. Smokers, 531 00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:58,960 Speaker 2: of course, by practice, are going to have frequently have 532 00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:02,959 Speaker 2: burning objects in close proximity to their hair and beard, 533 00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:04,920 Speaker 2: and may have additional thoughts on all of this, like 534 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:08,239 Speaker 2: I don't know how often, how often, say just a 535 00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:12,440 Speaker 2: smoker of cigarettes with a prominent beard would encounter some 536 00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:15,120 Speaker 2: sort of a beard burn scenario. But then again, again 537 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:18,040 Speaker 2: we have to remember that a slow match would have 538 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:21,840 Speaker 2: I believe burnt much hotter than your average cigarette or 539 00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:25,000 Speaker 2: pipe or whatnot. Yeah, anyway, so yeah, I had questions 540 00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:29,000 Speaker 2: about this too, liked, did he really do this? Was 541 00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:32,160 Speaker 2: this safe? I'm I mean, I'm not particularly worried about 542 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:36,440 Speaker 2: Blackbeard's personal safety choices, but is this feasible? And so 543 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:41,560 Speaker 2: I was looking around at some serious texts about black 544 00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:44,400 Speaker 2: Beard and pirates, and a number of them, number of 545 00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:46,959 Speaker 2: them didn't really do much deliberation on this point. They 546 00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:48,600 Speaker 2: just kind of mention it, and there's you know, there's 547 00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:50,720 Speaker 2: a lot of there's a lot more pressing history to 548 00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:54,280 Speaker 2: discuss here, So not a slide at those sources at all. 549 00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:57,040 Speaker 2: I also ran across at least a few more casual 550 00:30:57,160 --> 00:31:00,680 Speaker 2: commentators who dismissed it as a myth because, as they said, well, 551 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:03,360 Speaker 2: this would have surely caught his hair on fire, so 552 00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:07,240 Speaker 2: it you know, he almost certainly didn't do it. But 553 00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:10,640 Speaker 2: I did finally find discussion of it in Dinnerson Little's 554 00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:14,160 Speaker 2: twenty sixteen book The Golden Age of Piracy, The Truth 555 00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:17,640 Speaker 2: behind Pirate Myths, and so he attributes you know, a 556 00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:21,240 Speaker 2: lot of this myth making to Captain Charles Johnson's seventeen 557 00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:24,040 Speaker 2: twenty four book A General History of the Robberies and 558 00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:27,640 Speaker 2: Murders of the most most Notorious Pirates that's spelled p 559 00:31:27,840 --> 00:31:29,000 Speaker 2: y R A t e S. 560 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:30,520 Speaker 3: Gotta love pirate with y. 561 00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:34,920 Speaker 2: Yeah. And we have to note that the actual identity 562 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:38,520 Speaker 2: of this author remains unknown. There is apparently no record 563 00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:42,200 Speaker 2: of such a Captain Johnson, and some have even argued 564 00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:46,160 Speaker 2: that the author here is actually Daniel Dafoe, Yeah, of 565 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:50,400 Speaker 2: Robinson Crusoe, Yeah, exactly. So we ultimately don't know for sure. 566 00:31:50,440 --> 00:31:52,160 Speaker 2: I think historians kind of go back and forth with 567 00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:55,200 Speaker 2: different theories, but it seems to be agreed upon that 568 00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:59,040 Speaker 2: whoever wrote this they had some talent for fiction. They 569 00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:02,840 Speaker 2: also had a great love of facts and details, and 570 00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:05,680 Speaker 2: the resulting work is kind of a mix of the two. 571 00:32:05,760 --> 00:32:08,600 Speaker 2: So you have you do have some factual information that's 572 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:12,120 Speaker 2: very helpful to the historian, but you also have plenty 573 00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:14,160 Speaker 2: of just blatant fiction mixed in as well. 574 00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:17,280 Speaker 3: Oh well, that kind of source is in a way great. 575 00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:20,400 Speaker 3: I mean that makes it not as very frustrating as 576 00:32:20,440 --> 00:32:24,560 Speaker 3: a historical source, but also an interesting problem for historians. 577 00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:28,200 Speaker 2: Right right now, on the slow match in or adjacent 578 00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:32,240 Speaker 2: to the hair. In particular, the author little here adds 579 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:36,800 Speaker 2: the following quote. Still pirates, privateers, merchant seamen, and naval 580 00:32:36,840 --> 00:32:40,600 Speaker 2: seamen tasked with throwing grenades in battle sometimes carried the 581 00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:44,000 Speaker 2: burning slow match needed to light the grenade fuses in 582 00:32:44,080 --> 00:32:46,920 Speaker 2: their hats, but it was more usual to tie it 583 00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:49,720 Speaker 2: around a wrist or pin it to their clothing or 584 00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:54,600 Speaker 2: hat with a match case. Although one image of Jean Bart, 585 00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:58,000 Speaker 2: the famous French privateer in the service of France, shows 586 00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:01,120 Speaker 2: him with a length of lighted match hold in his teeth. 587 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:05,080 Speaker 2: Ugh and so He adds that Captain Johnson or whoever 588 00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:08,840 Speaker 2: was behind that pseudonym, would have surely seen the image 589 00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:11,800 Speaker 2: in question. They would have been familiar with this idea, 590 00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:15,360 Speaker 2: this image of Bart and so He and He also 591 00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:18,800 Speaker 2: points out that the slow match again burns slow but 592 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:22,240 Speaker 2: very hot by design in order to light fuses that, 593 00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:26,200 Speaker 2: despite what movies and Looney Tune cartoons portray, can be 594 00:33:26,360 --> 00:33:28,600 Speaker 2: rather hard to light. That's why you need a slow fuse. 595 00:33:28,640 --> 00:33:31,239 Speaker 2: You can't just you know, you couldn't just strike a 596 00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:33,760 Speaker 2: match and so forth. You need something hot and more 597 00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:36,120 Speaker 2: or less consistent. And then this is where he finally 598 00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:37,560 Speaker 2: gets to the part. This is where little gets to 599 00:33:37,600 --> 00:33:40,080 Speaker 2: the part that I was wondering about. He adds, quote, 600 00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:45,400 Speaker 2: slow matches could thus easily ignite hair, and a pirate's greasy, tarry, 601 00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:49,320 Speaker 2: flaming beard would have been a hellish spectacle, and one 602 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:53,480 Speaker 2: probably never repeat it. So I guess that's as close 603 00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:56,760 Speaker 2: to an answer as I could really find. Basically, like, yes, 604 00:33:57,280 --> 00:34:00,640 Speaker 2: slow matches on the hat, in the hat and so forth, 605 00:34:00,800 --> 00:34:03,960 Speaker 2: that's going to be expected to a degree, But there's 606 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:07,320 Speaker 2: like a fine line. You wouldn't want to push it 607 00:34:07,360 --> 00:34:10,080 Speaker 2: too far, and if someone did push it too far, 608 00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:13,919 Speaker 2: it would be notable. You know, that pirate would ever 609 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:16,799 Speaker 2: would forever be remembered as the guy whose head went 610 00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:19,200 Speaker 2: up in a ball of fire because he was trying 611 00:34:19,200 --> 00:34:21,479 Speaker 2: to be a little bit too dramatic in the boarding action, 612 00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:24,960 Speaker 2: and other pirates would decide, well, you know, I'll just 613 00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:27,480 Speaker 2: keep it on the hat. Maybe I'll just tie it 614 00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:27,960 Speaker 2: to the wrist. 615 00:34:28,200 --> 00:34:30,520 Speaker 3: I'm trying to think, Okay, so that's sort of a 616 00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:33,919 Speaker 3: count against this story, I guess, of black Beard putting 617 00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:37,680 Speaker 3: them in the beard. I wonder is it possible that 618 00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:40,399 Speaker 3: along the lines of this, like NASA research we're looking 619 00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:43,480 Speaker 3: at where you could put some kind of gels or jellies, 620 00:34:43,520 --> 00:34:45,719 Speaker 3: you know, flame resistant gels or jellies in the hair. 621 00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:48,840 Speaker 3: There's something that would have been available in the seventeenth 622 00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:51,840 Speaker 3: or eighteenth century. You could like wax your beard with 623 00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:54,920 Speaker 3: a flame resistant material that would like prevent it from 624 00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:57,320 Speaker 3: catching on fire. I'm just spitballing here, I guess. 625 00:34:57,320 --> 00:34:59,560 Speaker 2: So. I mean two things we have to consider about 626 00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:02,040 Speaker 2: pirates without going into a deep dive on like the 627 00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:05,800 Speaker 2: actual realities of pirates is that in some cases these 628 00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:11,120 Speaker 2: were learned men or women. You know, that that might 629 00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:14,520 Speaker 2: be pritvy to information like that that would be useful. 630 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:19,320 Speaker 2: Also that they could just be clever enough to figure 631 00:35:19,320 --> 00:35:21,760 Speaker 2: out something that would work if they were that attached 632 00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:24,480 Speaker 2: to this dramatic flare they had in mind. But on 633 00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:28,200 Speaker 2: the other hand, I feel like, you know, pirates are 634 00:35:28,239 --> 00:35:33,799 Speaker 2: making bad life choices, so that can include, you know, 635 00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:35,720 Speaker 2: risking your head going up in flames. 636 00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:39,040 Speaker 3: More thoughts about the beard, Okay, I can imagine the 637 00:35:39,080 --> 00:35:41,960 Speaker 3: plausibility of it would be affected by I think how 638 00:35:42,200 --> 00:35:45,080 Speaker 3: long the slow match you're putting in the beard is, Like, 639 00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:47,920 Speaker 3: if it's significantly long and hanging out, that sort of 640 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:51,120 Speaker 3: gets it away from your face. But the longer the 641 00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:53,759 Speaker 3: match you put in, the heavier it would be, in 642 00:35:53,800 --> 00:35:55,239 Speaker 3: which case I would think, how do you get it 643 00:35:55,280 --> 00:35:57,400 Speaker 3: to stay in the beard? Do you literally have to 644 00:35:57,440 --> 00:35:59,800 Speaker 3: like tie it inside a braid in your beard or 645 00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:02,359 Speaker 3: something thing? So you know what I'm saying, Like, yeah, 646 00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:05,440 Speaker 3: just sticking it in there. I don't know. I mean, 647 00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:08,400 Speaker 3: beard hair can be kind of thick and tangly, so 648 00:36:08,440 --> 00:36:12,000 Speaker 3: you can imagine sticking something in a beard that's not 649 00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:14,239 Speaker 3: very heavy and it stays there. But I don't know, 650 00:36:14,320 --> 00:36:16,960 Speaker 3: A significant length of something like rope or a slow 651 00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:19,200 Speaker 3: match seems like that would start getting heavy enough to 652 00:36:19,320 --> 00:36:19,919 Speaker 3: just fall out. 653 00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:23,680 Speaker 2: Yeah. Going back to some of these illustrations, these classic 654 00:36:23,719 --> 00:36:27,759 Speaker 2: illustrations of black Beard, I guess the idea is that 655 00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:31,040 Speaker 2: he would take a length of slow match, like place 656 00:36:31,080 --> 00:36:33,279 Speaker 2: it over his head and then put the hat on 657 00:36:33,320 --> 00:36:35,759 Speaker 2: top of it, and then you have either end of 658 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:39,600 Speaker 2: the slow match sticking out on each side. Still I 659 00:36:39,640 --> 00:36:41,960 Speaker 2: think too close for comfort to the rest of his 660 00:36:42,040 --> 00:36:45,480 Speaker 2: hair and his beard. But the way it's physician, maybe 661 00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:49,040 Speaker 2: it has the burning tips of the matches, you know, 662 00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:50,360 Speaker 2: sticking out to either side. 663 00:36:50,719 --> 00:36:53,440 Speaker 3: Ah, yeah, Okay, I guess that's more plausible because I 664 00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:56,680 Speaker 3: was imagining it literally being just in the beard, tangled 665 00:36:56,719 --> 00:36:57,480 Speaker 3: in the beard man. 666 00:36:57,719 --> 00:37:00,960 Speaker 2: I think it sometimes gets conflated to that, either storytelling 667 00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:03,600 Speaker 2: and embellishment or just by looking at a picture like this, 668 00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:07,600 Speaker 2: where like the famous illustration in question, it's like his 669 00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:11,839 Speaker 2: beard is already in kind of like squidlike arms, like 670 00:37:11,840 --> 00:37:15,640 Speaker 2: like dreads, and then the slow match also looks like 671 00:37:15,680 --> 00:37:17,759 Speaker 2: a dread coming out on either side of his head 672 00:37:17,760 --> 00:37:19,000 Speaker 2: that is then producing smoke. 673 00:37:20,080 --> 00:37:23,520 Speaker 3: Okay, but I see I was mentally personally supplying some 674 00:37:23,560 --> 00:37:26,359 Speaker 3: of the more implausible elements myself there that it was 675 00:37:26,400 --> 00:37:29,680 Speaker 3: like necessarily said to be in the beard. That's maybe 676 00:37:29,719 --> 00:37:32,200 Speaker 3: a less common variation on the idea, but. 677 00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:34,719 Speaker 2: I think it's out there. Like I said, there's so 678 00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:40,800 Speaker 2: much you know, myth making and an exaggeration in pirate 679 00:37:40,840 --> 00:37:44,920 Speaker 2: mythology that I think it just inevitably goes there. All right. Well, 680 00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:46,760 Speaker 2: on that note, I think we're going to go ahead 681 00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:49,279 Speaker 2: and call this part one, but we will be back 682 00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:51,279 Speaker 2: for a second episode. I think this is just going 683 00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:53,560 Speaker 2: to be a two parter, but in the next episode 684 00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:56,200 Speaker 2: we'll get a little bit into the idea of the 685 00:37:56,280 --> 00:38:00,600 Speaker 2: quest for Flaming hair and flaming beards, and mythology and folklore. 686 00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:05,520 Speaker 2: We'll also get into some examples from antiquity, so I think, 687 00:38:05,600 --> 00:38:08,319 Speaker 2: and probably some other angles as well that we haven't 688 00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:11,200 Speaker 2: worked out just yet. But yeah, we thought this was 689 00:38:11,239 --> 00:38:13,560 Speaker 2: going to be a one partner, but I think there's 690 00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:16,359 Speaker 2: enough interesting stuff for two here. In the meantime, we'll 691 00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:18,560 Speaker 2: remind you that Stuff to Blow Your Mind is primarily 692 00:38:18,560 --> 00:38:21,360 Speaker 2: a science and culture podcast, with core episodes on Tuesdays 693 00:38:21,360 --> 00:38:25,799 Speaker 2: and Thursdays. Let's see, currently we are doing short form 694 00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:30,440 Speaker 2: episodes on Wednesdays. We're doing Weird House Cinema on Fridays. Now, 695 00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:34,200 Speaker 2: you might notice that our Monday listener Mail episodes have 696 00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:37,880 Speaker 2: ceased for the time being. We're experimenting with a slightly 697 00:38:37,880 --> 00:38:40,800 Speaker 2: different format, going back to the old format of having 698 00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:44,840 Speaker 2: listener Mail episodes occur, say every month or so, and 699 00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:49,160 Speaker 2: instead running a Weird House Cinema rerun in that Monday slot. Again, 700 00:38:49,200 --> 00:38:51,480 Speaker 2: we're just trying things out here, so if you have 701 00:38:51,560 --> 00:38:54,040 Speaker 2: thoughts on this experiment right in, we would love to 702 00:38:54,080 --> 00:38:54,520 Speaker 2: hear from you. 703 00:38:54,840 --> 00:38:57,080 Speaker 3: Right so, want to be super clear, listener Mail is 704 00:38:57,120 --> 00:38:59,759 Speaker 3: not going away. Please keep the messages coming. We are 705 00:38:59,800 --> 00:39:01,880 Speaker 3: still going to read them on the show, just on 706 00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:06,120 Speaker 3: a less frequent basis. The plan is roughly every month, 707 00:39:06,160 --> 00:39:07,759 Speaker 3: month and a half, more like we used to do 708 00:39:07,920 --> 00:39:09,400 Speaker 3: before the weekly. 709 00:39:10,040 --> 00:39:13,560 Speaker 2: Yeah. So, if you have experiences with burning hair, some 710 00:39:13,680 --> 00:39:17,160 Speaker 2: pirate thoughts to share, or certainly if you have thoughts 711 00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:22,040 Speaker 2: about standard issue Flamer units on space missions and deep 712 00:39:22,080 --> 00:39:25,279 Speaker 2: sea missions in science fiction, write in. We'd love to 713 00:39:25,320 --> 00:39:25,839 Speaker 2: hear from you. 714 00:39:26,320 --> 00:39:29,960 Speaker 3: Huge thanks as always to our excellent audio producer JJ Posway. 715 00:39:30,080 --> 00:39:31,680 Speaker 3: If you would like to get in touch with us 716 00:39:31,719 --> 00:39:34,200 Speaker 3: with feedback on this episode or any other, to suggest 717 00:39:34,280 --> 00:39:36,440 Speaker 3: a topic for the future, or just to say hello, 718 00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:39,359 Speaker 3: you can email us at contact at stuff to Blow 719 00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:47,560 Speaker 3: your Mind dot com. 720 00:39:47,680 --> 00:39:50,600 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For 721 00:39:50,680 --> 00:39:53,479 Speaker 1: more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 722 00:39:53,640 --> 00:40:10,640 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.