Visualizing 25,000 Barrels

YouTube user Elude87 utilized the Unreal Development Kit to show what 25,000 barrels would look like, whether those barrels were filled with oil or not.

Dubbing the outcome a “mass physics demonstration,” the animation shows a stack of 25,000 barrels reaching 15,000 feet high, quite impressive until you realize that the latest estimates of the amount of oil pouring out of the Deepwater Horizon are being pegged at between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels per day.

That’s a lot of oil.

Another YouTube user (erikrass) rendered a video response showing the same type of simulation, only using 50,000 barrels.

After undergoing a grilling in Washington last week, BP oil chief Tony Hayward was widely criticized for competing in a sailing race, in clean waters presumably, off the coast of England. Hayward’s 52-foot sloop came in fourth place.

Representative Joe Barton (R-TX) later apologized to Hayward for his treatment at the hands of President Obama’s administration, before Republican leadership forced him to retract the apology by  threatening to take away Barton’s leadership position. Barton is the ranking Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.


Via Kotaku