lew (11/24/82)
Steven Gutfreund posed the question, "Do you really think that if I put my hand in a vacuum bottle, my blood will start to boil?" My answer is, "No, the pressure in your hand must stay at your body's pressure - but your hand will very likely burst." (I am assuming a seal at the wrist.) Here we have a contrived example which fulfills the condition so often erroneously presumed to obtain when a human body is exposed to a vacuum. The condition being a pressure difference of 16 psi. I doubt that the suction required to create a "hickey" is more than 2 psi. Now imagine 8 times that. I think Steven's reference to a "mere 16 psi" is completely unwarranted. Try blowing on a tire gauge sometime (in the privacy of your own home, of course.) I've never been able to register anything at all. I think it usually takes one or two psi to move the gauge. Lew Mammel, Jr. ihuxr!lew