I have been seeing a link to a mock science experiment that the right is using to downplay the conspiracy theory’s regarding the collapse of the WTC.
You can read about this mock science experiment here. It is interesting to see the effect of fire on chickenwire, but I think NIST has done a far better job at explaining how the towers came down. Most left wing whack jobs probably didn’t even gander at it.
You can view the whole pdf of the NIST analysis (over 400 pages with diagrams, charts, analysis, etc.) here. I urge you to go to about page 282 of the document, which is page 364 of the pdf file and read the 20 to 40 pages about their analysis of each tower falling and keep in mind, that the structural integrity changes once parts go into motion. A building is designed to be inert. Once parts start moving beyond tolerance of design, any architect will tell you that the building is in trouble.
But to provide my own analysis of the main conspiracy theories I have seen:
Conspiracy Theory: The jet fuel could not burn hot enough to melt steel girders.
Explanation: It would not have to melt the steel girders, just heat them up enough to allow for sag, which the NIST report points out. Once sag starts to happen on a floor the horizontal pull of the floor would cause the outer walls to be pulled inward, thus providing a kink in the shape which would cause the tower to give. Think of how much stronger your arm is when your elbow is locked straight than when you bend it a little bit and force so much more weight on the tendons and muscles holding your arm in that bent position. Give it try. Take a five lb weight in each arm and hold one straight over year head with elbow locked, and the other over your head with the elbow bent slightly and see which arm tires out first.
Conspiracy Theory: The tower was using reinforced steel and had been designed well. How could fuel have melted the girders and caused the collapse.
Explanation: According to NIST, WTC 1 fell because of buckling around floor 98 due to the heat buildup weaking specific structural points. This means that when the 12 or so floors above came crashing down on a weakened floor 97, the amount of pressure was immensely more than the structure was designed to support in a stable, inert environment. ex. Think of when you jump down about 5 feet or so and land on your feet. The pressure on your ankles and knees is far more than that of your weight when you stand on them.
Conspiracy Theory: People saw explosions around the base of the tower.
Explanation: Continuing the above example, with an analogy, when someone jumps from a buildings second or third floor to save their life and they land on the ground, they inevitably have shattered ankles and/or knees and broken foot arches from the pressure of landing and all their weight coming down on these joints. Similarly, every time the mass at the top hit downwards the pressure on the base of the tower would have reverberated the footings and pillars near the bottom almost as much as the ones at the top where the pancaking occurs. Eventually the concrete, as it does under very high stress, cracks and explodes outwards looking like an explosion. Remember, we aren’t talking about someone on the 98th floor jumping up and down. We are talking about the mass of every concrete and steel section above the 98th floor all coming down at about 10 ft/s and accelerating. The weight would crush each floor underneath and add that floors weight to the next floor being struck, and each time there would be a massive amount of pressure being applied to the floors far lower in the tower.
Conspiracy Theory: Bush killed almost 3000 people to start a war.
Explanation: Leftwing nutjob whackos grasping at straws.
Please feel free to post any other conspiracy theories here. I would be glad to debunk them.
H/T to Kate at SDA for the chickenwire experiment.
Now can I please get back to watching the F1 race before taking my daughter to see the movie Cars?
