I would like to see the contestants build dirigibles. The balloons could be powered with hot air or hydrogen made from battery acid and soft metals from the junkyard. The contest could be simply lifting a given weight (say 50 kilos or a team member) to a height of 50 meters. A cable attached to the balloons could also add additional weight as the balloon rises. This may require a new skill not seen before on the show. All the engineering and physics skills demonstrated in the past will be put to the test if the contestants must use chemistry to make the hydrogen to fill their balloons.

-- Paul Jacobsen (jakeizatt@hotmail.com), February 06, 2001

Answers

HYDROGEN!?!? Can you say "Hindenburg"?

-- Doug (deadbolt1@yahoo.com), February 07, 2001.

Instead of hydrogen, though easy to make (Vinegar plus salt=HCL, HCL+Zinc=Zinc Chloride and Hydrogen), they should plant two large tanks of helium in the heap. (They did it before with rocket engines) The we will see whose hording skills are put to the te

-- YoungJYW Fan (Gandolf328@aol.com), February 07, 2001.