Truman Bradley introduces us to the way termites function. We then segue into the episode where researchers are doing the same thing. A young woman (Barbara Hale-- Della Street of Perry Mason), herself a scientist, hires a man to help with her father's research. They find their ways to his research facility in the desert (a common theme in this series) and realize the father is gone and much of his equipment with him. Using some divining process, they eventually find an underground crevice and cave where a fully functioning lab is present. Unfortunately, the researcher is not there--no sign of him. They realize that he has been observing a species of termite that can actually ingest metals and rock--not just the normal wood most of them digest. What to do? And where is the discoverer. This is a decent episode with interesting implications.
3 Reviews
Bad Science, Fair Science Fiction
WYAdams23 October 2017
Warning: Spoilers
This episode gets into trouble when the host supposedly performs a science experiment. Like most non scientists, the writers have the misconception that acids dissolve almost everything, thus the ridiculous experiment.
So what did he do? There is a beaker of hydrochloric acid into which a glass rod is dipped and instantaneously dissolved. Then a wooden spoon is dipped in the acid and it survives. Leading to the ridiculous statement that wood is "stronger" than glass. As further proof, he uses the spoon to break a glass flask.
The fallacies:
1) Hydrochloric acid is one of the weaker acids in the family of acids we call strong acids. It does not dissolve glass, it is stored in glass bottles. It is sold in pool stores under its common name, Muriatic Acid.
2) The speed at which the glass rod dissolves is nonsensical. Acids do not instantly dissolve materials. It takes time for the chemical reaction to occur because it has to work its way through the material.
3) He uses the word strong to indicate both chemical strength (dissolving), and physical strength (breaking). One is in no way related to the other.
4) After discovering the mineral eating termites, they realize her father was eaten by the termites. Ridiculous hog wash. If the termites eat minerals, they might eat the small amount of minerals in the human body, but they are present in such trace amounts and scattered around the body that it is unlikely the termites would even detect them. Further, mineral eating termites would not eat the organic matter of the body.
The show should have stuck to science fiction and not tried to wander into pure science without the help of a competent science adviser.
The rest of the show is pretty good. It is especially funny to see Barbara Hale with her hair bleached pure white. At the beginning of her career she was a blond bombshell, until she took on the role of the sexy brunette, Della Street, in Perry Mason.
So what did he do? There is a beaker of hydrochloric acid into which a glass rod is dipped and instantaneously dissolved. Then a wooden spoon is dipped in the acid and it survives. Leading to the ridiculous statement that wood is "stronger" than glass. As further proof, he uses the spoon to break a glass flask.
The fallacies:
1) Hydrochloric acid is one of the weaker acids in the family of acids we call strong acids. It does not dissolve glass, it is stored in glass bottles. It is sold in pool stores under its common name, Muriatic Acid.
2) The speed at which the glass rod dissolves is nonsensical. Acids do not instantly dissolve materials. It takes time for the chemical reaction to occur because it has to work its way through the material.
3) He uses the word strong to indicate both chemical strength (dissolving), and physical strength (breaking). One is in no way related to the other.
4) After discovering the mineral eating termites, they realize her father was eaten by the termites. Ridiculous hog wash. If the termites eat minerals, they might eat the small amount of minerals in the human body, but they are present in such trace amounts and scattered around the body that it is unlikely the termites would even detect them. Further, mineral eating termites would not eat the organic matter of the body.
The show should have stuck to science fiction and not tried to wander into pure science without the help of a competent science adviser.
The rest of the show is pretty good. It is especially funny to see Barbara Hale with her hair bleached pure white. At the beginning of her career she was a blond bombshell, until she took on the role of the sexy brunette, Della Street, in Perry Mason.
Barbara Hale as
ablbodyed-216 April 2021
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