The Darwin Awards Countdown to Extinction (28 page)

Aluminum is a very important metal in modern society. The main natural source of aluminum is aluminum oxide, Al
₂
O
₃
, a very stable compound. You can’t extract the aluminum just by heating the oxide—you need more energy.

 

A method of smelting aluminium was discovered in 1886 by Charles Martin Hall, a twenty-one-year-old college student. The aluminum oxide is melted, and forms ions of aluminum and oxygen. A positive and a negative electrode are immersed in the molten liquid, and electrical current (a flow of electrons) flows out of the cathode. Positively charged aluminum ions pick up negatively charged electrons and deposit on the cathode as pure aluminum metal, while oxygen gas combines with the anode to form carbon dioxide gas.

The melting point of aluminum oxide is more than 2,000°C. Modern smelters save energy by dissolving a small amount of aluminum oxide in cryolite (Na
₃
AlF
₆
)which melts at a much lower temperature, closer to 1,000°C. An electrical current is passed through this molten mixture and, as described above, aluminum ions combine with electrons to form liquid aluminum metal that is siphoned from the bottom of the tank. The oxygen ions combine with carbon from the anode to form carbon dioxide, CO
₂
(which is much safer than O
₂
).

News reports spelled his name Mieczyskaw, but that name is not listed in the Social Security Death Database. There is an obituary for Mieczyslaw M. (note spelling difference) at
findagrave.com
, stating that he died—not in 2009—but in 2008. Ultimately we concluded that the man did indeed exist, at least before his feud with the power line. This common Polish surname is difficult to spell correctly, and the discrepancy at
findagrave.com
is likely due to the fact that contributors submit unverified new listings.

Still, things are not adding up. Industrial saws require power, but the power was out! Was it a gas-powered or cordless circular saw? Besides, a fallen line doesn’t just sit there hissing for seven hours; a fuse blows or is pulled at the site by the utility company. And why would anyone take a saw to a downed electric line? This certainly will not restore power. If the old guy was mental, he would be disqualified based on Rule #4: Maturity.

A polish reader suspects he was displaying a national trait: a perverted sense of justice. “Fair” is when everyone is doing equally badly, so perhaps he saw fit to deprive the
whole area
of electricity since his house still lacked it.

In 2002 another paint-bespattered person met Mr. Darwin. An electric train roof was suffering from a bad case of the flames. After fire crews extinguished the blaze, they found a puzzling lump of charcoal. Was it involved in the fire? The answer: Yes, and rather intimately. Hours before the blaze, this lump had walked right past high voltage warning signs, surmounted fences, and climbed onto the roof of a train to spray-paint his graffiti masterpiece. When he finished, he stood and raised his arms in triumph—and touched the 15,000-volt main power line. The electrical current permanently revoked his artistic license and incinerated the flammable wet paint of his final masterpiece.

Antivenom is purified from serum
taken from an animal that has been injected with tiny amounts of venom to provoke an immune response. The antibodies bind to and neutralize the toxin molecules, halting further damage. Antivenom must be administered ASAP because it does not reverse damage already done. Historically, immunized horses were the animal of choice, but today sheep and goats are more common sources of antivenom because there is less chance of serum sickness caused by an immune response to the animal’s antigens.