Science project smolders on subway, panic ensues
29-year-old Gregory Kats says he's sorry his science project (a model of an elevator) short circuited in his backpack and started smoldering in a NYC subway car.
Kats said he tried to reassure his fellow passengers that it was a school project -- not a bomb -- but people scrambled for the exits nonetheless. The box he was holding had a small battery, wires and a motor.Link"They were panicking, and I realized their fear," an apologetic Kats said.
He said he tried to disassemble the contraption on the platform even as he reassured riders, "Don't worry. This is my science project."
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Heh heh heh!! Don't worry, this is my science project!
@#1
My science project is "How can I create an atmosphere of terror on a mass transit system?" Or, in shorter terms, "Fear in close spaces."
The way things are these days, I'm surprised he wasn't shot but some cop or "security" guard. And what about these panicky people on the subway, doesn't anyone have any thought behind their responses any more? I dunno, I guess the first reaction to any weird or even slightly threatening situation is OH MY GOD IT'S A TERRRRORIST!!!!
Stupid and sickening (and all too common). I shouldn't have even bothered commenting... what's the use. I'm sick of it.
@#2
Heh. For full effect, it really should have started smoldering in an elevator(partially because it was a model of an elevator). Extra credit if he put models of 'terrorized' citizens within the model, as well.
"...actually the real people won't burn quite as quicky...ahey."
What is a 29 yr. old doing with a "science project"?
is anyone else wondering what a 29 year old had to do a science project for?
Um. He's a college student like it says in the article. You're allowed to go to college at any age. Really. You should check it out.
Mechanic: Somebody set us up the science project. (KATS appears on main screen)
Captain: It's you!!
did he, at any time, say: "Oy! the glaven!"?
Can you imagine if he had made a papier-mache volcano and filled it with baking soda, red food coloring, and vinegar?
"RUN!!! It's a terrorist, and he's got a volcano!!! GAHHHHH!!!!!"
This is why NYC is better than Boston. In New York they treat a potential terrorist basically like a particularly smelly or disruptive homeless person: move to the next car, brief talking-to by police.
Boston: WE HAVE TO BLOW SOME THINGS UP JUST TO BE SAFE!!!11
Oh it's not terrorism, it's just mad science. I'm...comforted.
i like the yo yo,
but,
is it safe?
"It had a very sinister appearance. It had a battery behind it, and wires"
Said of the Boston mooninites.
I had an old MP3 player where the case broke, so I cut a plastic toy grenade in half and mounted it in one half, soldered the appropriate broken links and hotglued it into place. USB sticking out one end, green circuitboard visible on one side of the half grenade.
Now that would be cause for alarm. I don't carry it anymore.
I had an old MP3 player where the case broke, so I cut a plastic toy grenade in half and mounted it in one half, soldered the appropriate broken links and hotglued it into place. USB sticking out one end, green circuitboard visible on one side of the half grenade.
Now that would be cause for alarm. I don't carry it anymore.
Now that would be cause for alarm? Nope. Now it will get you tossed in a re-education camp
One half of my mind is filled with pitty for those dumb suckers that will panic any time something unusual happens. The conditionning was wery efficiently applied...
Another half of my mind laughs uncontrolably. The greatest nation on Earth is filled with quivering idjots that are scared of anything technical... But what would you expect from a flock of sheep that don't do science because it might contradict what's wrtitten in The Big Book.
Yet another half feels there's some sense of justice in all that.
The last half thinks it's time to review the chapter on fractions.
Oh, and lucky the smoke cloud wasn't mushroom-shaped...
If you are in the subway and something starts to smolder and smoke, get the hell out or find a fire exstinguisher.
It has nothing to do with "fear of terrorism" and everything to do with concern for fire and smoke in an enclosed place.
If something catches on fire in a subway, and am out of there (and leave the REALLY brave to make bold comments on the Internet).
I really wish just one of them had heard him say it was a science project and had been interested enough to actually step forward and ask him about it... maybe even ask if they could help him stop the smoldering. How scared would everyone else be then?
Of course, maybe it was noisy on the subway and nobody could make out what he was saying. A lot of people here seem to be assuming that everyone on the subway was a terrorist-fearing ignoramus (and who knows, maybe they were), but I know my first reaction to an unknown smoldering object would be caution. I wouldn't assume it was a terrorist's bomb, of course, but a potentially flaming object in an enclosed space is something I'd want to get away from.
I really wish just one of them had heard him say it was a science project and had been interested enough to actually step forward and ask him about it... maybe even ask if they could help him stop the smoldering. How scared would everyone else be then?
Of course, maybe it was noisy on the subway and nobody could make out what he was saying. A lot of people here seem to be assuming that everyone on the subway was a terrorist-fearing ignoramus (and who knows, maybe they were), but I know my first reaction to an unknown smoldering object would be caution. I wouldn't assume it was a terrorist's bomb, of course, but a potentially flaming object in an enclosed space is something I'd want to get away from.
(Forgive me if this gets double posted, the board apparently ate my original post... it appears in recent comments and under my profile, but not on the actual page... of course, now RRSafety has expressed basically the same idea, at the exact same time.)
Michael Leddy--That's the EXACT same thing I thought! A 29-year-old with a science project. He's obviously a slow learner.
But it frightened riders on a B train near the Seventh Avenue stop on Thursday.
They don't say which Seventh Avenue stop, though. According to Gothamist it was the one in Brooklyn, which I use all the time.
Think about it... a guy's backpack smokes. OK, that's cause for alarm. Nobody likes to stand next to someone on fire. So, fine so far.
But then he says: "OH, sorry, it's my science project, it must have short circuited." Which is rather a different message than "Die Infidels" or "hey, where's the 72 virgins?"
Unless Woody Allen becomes a suicide bomber, I seriously doubt one would stop to apologize and then start rationalizing it comically with a lot of "oh geeze, oh geeze, there goes my science project" routine.
Wait, since when do you do "science projects" in college? I'm still a little confused.
Not everyone is an 'English major', by which I mean just there to drink and get laid.
so how do the sexual therapy students pass the time?
Reading abstruse literature and wondering if they're ever going to lose their virginity.
wrong, that's art criticism.