this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2023
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Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.

Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:

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We have cars for earth, boats for water and planes for air. Nothing for fire. Not that I want to ride on fire.

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[–] [email protected] 58 points 2 years ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Dang indeed. That is crazy. Kudos to those firefighters!

Any pics of the outside of these trucks?

ETA: I found some. I guess theyre called brush trucks. Pretty much a BIG truck with firefighting accessories. How do the tires not melt? https://unruhfire.com/brush-trucks/

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

The vehicles used by bushfire (wildfires in Nth America) fighters are designed to drive through and survive fire.

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.

[–] [email protected] 52 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Aren't rockets vehicles that ride on fire (that they create themselves)?

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 years ago (3 children)

By that logic, anything that has an engine rides on fire

[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Ok but the return capsule kinda rides on fire when it re-enters the atmosphere

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago

The fire is at the vehicle’s boundary for a rocket, making the rocket a vehicle that rides on fire.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Sooo steam engines ride on water?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

Yes, and a hang glider rides on air.

[–] [email protected] 39 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Atmosphere re-entry capsules

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

And the Space Shuttle! (RIP)

[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago (1 children)

We all know those create fire, silly.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

Only if you are Ray Bradbury.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

Came her to say this. Literally riding on the hot air from a big fire.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 2 years ago

We have rockets.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

So solid, liquid, gas, and missing plasma. You just need to have a really big bang and any of the other vehicles will do

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

I have a vehicle that is powered by fire, does that count?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

Technically you can have all the other vehicles for the remaining elements running on fire.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Hot air balloon is probably your best bet for doing this

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Solar sails are kind of like that

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

We do call it solar wind, though.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago

firetrucks?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Earth, water, air all have density. Meaning we can create a vehicle that can be lower destiny than the (Earth, water, air) our vehicle is riding in.

Fire doesn't have density. So we can't make a vehicle lighter than fire as fire has no density to begin with.

A rocket you say? Doesn't qualify. The rocket (when in the atmosphere) is providing lots of expanding gasses which creates a difference in air pressure pushing the vehicle forward. The rocket (when in the vacuum of space) is providing lots of expanding gasses at high velocities that we throw out of one side of the rocket causing the rocket to be thrown equally and oppositely the other direction. We have lots of engine in space which done have fire at all (nitrogen cold gas thrusters come to mind).

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

While fire itself may not have mass or density, the materials involved in the fire (fuel and oxygen) do have density.

In the context of a rocket engine, the combustion process involves the ejection of high-speed exhaust gases, which have mass and therefore contribute to the overall density of the vehicle.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

We're in agreement on the physics of rocket propulsion. However, "fire" is essentially defined as a chemical oxidation reaction. The reaction itself doesn't have mass. While fuel and oxidizer undergo the oxidation reaction, it isn't the reaction itself providing the propulsion, its the mass and velocity of the combustion products.

This is why the "natural element" definition is old and out-of-date. Any discussion of "fire" as an element is a philosophical or literary exercise, not a scientific one.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I think you nailed it - fire is not analogous to earth, wind, and water (and heart), so the premise of the post is confounded.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

I tried to imagine a vehicle for travelling on a surface of Heart, then decided I don't want to.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

ICE. We carry fire with us no matter where we go.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

Ghost Rider enters the room.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

Sounds like we need to gene splice minecraft striders into a reality.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 years ago

Fill a open trailer with wood and light it. Drive wherever. Dont drive too slow or it may catch up to you.