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Re: CO2

On Tue, 7 Aug 2001, Jim Green wrote:

A guy says that drinking carbonated soda is evil wicked bad and nasty
because the CO2 stays in the body for at lest _5_ yr.

What is this all about????

Wooo, a crackpot claim I've never encountered! Since Urban Legends are
information viruses, perhaps this is a recent mutation. Usually people
are going on about phenolalanine(sp?) sweetners affecting brain chemistry,
or producing toxins when heated, as with diet hot chocolate. Lead ions in
drinking water are incorporated into bones, and can stick around in your
body for decades. Hey, maybe the rumors are fusing together! Meme-sex?
Rapid meme-evolution will sometimes polish an accidental mutation into a
fast-spreading epidemic. I never considered that urban legends might
exchange genetic material with each other. Heh. Someone should write a
javascript transposon Virulent Meme Creator for their website:

[Soft drinks] are [dangerous] because [carbonic acid] affects
your [bones], causing you to [get osteoporosis.]

[Soft drinks] are [an Archer Daniels Midland conspiracy] because
[corn syrup] affects your [hypothalamus] causing you to
[uncontrollably buy more soft drinks].


Can't you just FEEL the urge to believe these? And also to immediately go
out and warn all your friends? Oh, and don't buy shampoo while you're out
warning people. Long term shampoo use is unwise because it affects your
hair follicles, causing you to [become bald.]



PS

When you hold your breath, your blood fills with dissolved CO2. Our
"urge to breathe" is caused by the body's internal CO2 detector. E.g., if
you go into a pure nitrogen environment, you won't feel out of breath as
you suddenly collapse from anoxia. And if you blow all the air out of
your lungs and then take a huge breath of helium from a balloon, your
voice will sound funny just before you die, as did a science teacher last
year. (NOT an urban legend!)


((((((((((((((((((((( ( ( ( ( (O) ) ) ) ) )))))))))))))))))))))
William J. Beaty SCIENCE HOBBYIST website
billb@eskimo.com http://www.amasci.com
EE/programmer/sci-exhibits science projects, tesla, weird science
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