Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with die

What injuries kill you slowly?

Biru — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:46:36 -0800

What kinds of injuries can still kill you long after you've entered intensive care in hospital? It had always been my assumption that if you had a serious injury and were taken to hospital quick sharp then your chances were good. Especially if you were alive several days later. However, this story tells of a guy injured on Saturday who died the following Wednesday. Perhaps I'm being naive, but I had assumed that serious trauma injuries either killed you outright or pretty quickly. It seems weird to me that he lived four days before dying.

Why does my truck shut off randomly?

DonSlice — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:51:01 -0800

Why does my truck shut off randomly? I own a 1997 GMC Jimmy. About two weeks ago, I filled up at a local gas station and began experiencing some problems related to what I believe was water in the tank. I dumped a couple bottles of Heet (a “DryGas” type product) to get rid of the water and stop my sputtering. It seemed to work, but since then, more problems have arisen.

Every now and again, with no rhyme or reason, my car will shut off. Not stall. Not sputter. It just shuts off. The speedometer and tachometer will zero out and the radio cuts out. The dummy lights come back on and I put my car in neutral and start it up right away. From this point, I will usually put it in Drive or Reverse (depending on which direction I was going to begin with) and continue. Sometimes, however, the car will shut off again. This “shutting off” usually happens when the vehicle is traveling slowly (ie: braking or just taking off).

An item of note:

I have a remote-starter unit on it and am unsure if that is causing problems. I haven’t the money to have it removed properly.

I know you guys aren’t my mechanic, but hopefully you can send me in the correct direction to get this issue fixed.

Looking for CPU die core prints

SouthCNorthNY — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:17:24 -0800

I would love a huge poster of something like this. But I can't find anything like it on sites that sell posters. Does anyone know where I could find very high resolution images of die cores?

Need to identify Hot Wheels part

punkfloyd — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:19:10 -0800

Help me identify a Hot Wheels die cast car part/accessory. I bought a lot of Hot Wheels from a garage sale which included this thing. Are there any collectors who can tell me what it is? It measures about 2 inches in length. The Hot Wheels I bought are Red Lines from 1968-1971 if that helps. Thanks

What is a good sample size for determining whether dice are truly random?

Bugbread — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:41:41 -0800

How many times would I have to roll a standard 6-sided die to get a statistically representative view of whether it was truly random or not? I have a bunch of dice that I haven't used in years. The other day, I was playing with one, and I noticed that the 5 came up fairly often. I started rolling the die and writing down the results, to see if it was just a short term statistical fluke, or observer bias, or if the die really favored the 5.

I think I ended up rolling it around 200 times, and 5 definitely had a significant edge.

Now, I'd like to check my other dice. However, I'm not a statistician. I understand that, obviously, the larger your data set (the more times you roll each die and write down the results), the better your analysis of non-randomness will be. However, I know that it isn't necessary to roll the die 1 billion times to check for randomness, that there is some generally accepted statistical minimum, below which the margin of error is too large, and above which the margin of error is generally considered acceptable.

How many die rolls is that point?

I have a bomb in my kitchen

thebrokedown — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 19:06:30 -0800

I have a plastic container of "milk" that has an expiration date of 12/07 in my fridge. I use milk only to cook, and my refrigerator is a small, crowded and scary space. This (almost full) container got lost, somehow. Anyhoo, tomorrow is trash day, and I'd like to get rid of this toxic waste with the least possible collateral damage.

At this point, the liquid is mostly clear with a thick white substance on the bottom. Can I put the almost-full container in with the other trash? Will the temperature difference cause an explosion? Should I--dare I--pour it out? Is leaving it there until it develops an advanced culture and concomitant space program of its own the answer? Or shall I add it to a plate of beans?

Mental health oriented right to die movements?

By The Grace of God — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:23:14 -0800

Are there any mental health oriented right to die movements?

Finding some 11 year old sheets?

ooklala — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 19:51:40 -0800

I have some bedsheets from around 1996 (Noah's Ark Printed from Designer's Guild) that I am deeply attached to. Can I get them copied or restored (without loosing the worn in softness)? So for the past 11 years I have used the same Noah's Ark children sheets from Designer's Guild. I want to know if anybody has these or knows where to buy them. If not does anybody know where I can get them copied in NYC? (price is no object) These sheets are quite important to me (as dumb as it sounds) and it is my dream to continue sleeping in them(without wearing them down more) , and die in them (when I am old).

"The young die young that they may avoid corruption. The old live long that they may repent."

Pater Aletheias — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 09:42:16 -0800

Can anyone identity the source of this saying? "The young die young that they may avoid corruption. The old live long that they may repent." That may not be the exact wording. Do you know of a line like it? That's all the information I have. TIA

I can't shoot the little bastards so help me clean up

Optimus Chyme — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 16:03:14 -0800

What's the best way to remove permanent marker from semi-porous plastic? Some idiot tagged our cable box yesterday; it's a yellow plastic material, and I have no idea what to use to get this shit off. My vaunted Magic Eraser only got the top coating off. I'm cool with using harsh chemicals, or if all else fails painting the damned thing black, but I'd rather not.

Dreaming Death

jmd82 — Tue, 06 Apr 2004 22:51:55 -0800

Is there any scientific data supporting the theory "If you dream your death in your sleep, you'll die"? I've heard this theory before, but some coworkers and I got into a debate about it tonight. Having never really researched it, I listened as they argued that if someone dreams in their sleep, they'll die because the sensation of death would cause the brain to turn off causing death.
However, I argued that there is no real proof for this because by following that logic, nobody has lived through dreaming their own death in the first place to prove either way. I held that the brain simply doesn't allow us to dream our own demise.
So, is there any real data supporting either of our thesis's?