Althouse: The anti-earthquake bed.

December 17, 2015

The anti-earthquake bed.

"So a Chinese inventor has revealed a new and improved version of an earthquake-proof bed that supposedly helps you survive a worst case scenario — but at what cost?"

12 comments:

Chris said...: So, you are laying on your mattress on top of the emergency rations. How do you get the rations? Seems like a convenient coffin.; 12/17/15, 7:45 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Also, as the linked article points out, what if you aren't all the way on the bed when it triggers?; 12/17/15, 7:54 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: I can just picture the bed triggering based on someone's nighttime amorous activities.; 12/17/15, 8:20 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: I wouldn't want to be entombed in my bed. I'd rather take my chances with the earthquake.; 12/17/15, 8:22 AM
Nichevo said...: Does no one in China sleep two to a bed? They would be flung against each other and crushed.; 12/17/15, 8:22 AM
Bob Boyd said...: When the rescuers get Laslo's room they'll find the bed closed up and half a cucumber lying in the rubble.; 12/17/15, 8:23 AM
clint said...: Seems like it would be easier, more widely applicable, and maybe even cheaper, to build an earthquake-proof panic room and put your bed in it.

All the moving parts make this seem very susceptible to bad failure modes. Can you imagine it going off by accident? I'd feel safer with just a steel canopy over the bed capable of supporting the weight of rubble falling from above.; 12/17/15, 8:32 AM
MathMom said...: When we lived in Alaska, we had two earthquakes three days apart which sent us grabbing for the kids and standing in the doorway, so that we could stay in if stuff started falling outside, or run outside if the house collapsed. Both stopped in about a minute and things were ok.

The thing I noticed during the quakes was that while I was grabbing for the baby and missing because the crib was swaying and I was standing on an unstable floor, my husband went in to get our 4-yr-old from his bottom bunk. That is the bottom bunk of his oak bunkbed, which had a 3/4" plywood homemade bunky board under each mattress, which was wedged into the oak frame, and 1/2" diameter, 4" maple dowels holding the top bunk and bottom bunks together. My husband said that bed stood there like a rock. I'll bet the house could have collapsed on it and our son would have been safe.

Oak bunk beds. All the benefits, none of the risks of these contraptions.

Also, build high-rise buildings with reinforced concrete and diagonal beams in earthquake-prone areas, to keep the building from pancaking.; 12/17/15, 8:56 AM
JAORE said...: Geez, who picks the music for these things?; 12/17/15, 8:56 AM
walter said...: I wonder how much those things weigh. I imagine one accidentally triggered and crashing down three floors in a high rise. Are the gas masks so you can tolerate being encased with your own excrement?; 12/17/15, 9:13 AM
Wince said...: But would it prevent someone falling on you with a protruding penis during an earthquake.; 12/17/15, 9:50 AM
MrCharlie2 said...: Do the supplies include a saw to complete the amputation if my foot is hanging off the end of the bed?; 12/17/15, 6:04 PM