Yahoo! Answers

Friday we let you know that Answers would be unavailable Tuesday, Sept 13 for several hours. We are happy to share that all maintenance has now been completed and the site is available again.

We apologize for any inconvenience. Thanks so much for your patience!

Thanks for reading,

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Yahoo! Answers is undergoing some essential planned maintenance on Tuesday, September 13 starting at 1am ET, 6am BST, and lasting several hours. Answers will be unavailable during that time. The Suggestion Board will not be affected by this.

If there is any change to the schedule, we will inform you here with updates. We’re sorry for the inconvenience caused – we assure you this work is essential.

If you’re looking for something to do during the downtime, why not…

• Look at the semi-aquatic hippopotamus on Flickr
• Take the taste test: Is Mexican coke better?
• See if you’re beating your opponent in Fantasy Football

Thanks for reading,

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It has been ten years since the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001. Although the attacks happened in the United States, they were an attack on freedom everywhere. It is not an anniversary we want to remember, it’s an anniversary we never want to forget. That is the spirit on which the redevelopment of the World Trade Center is built.

When complete, the World Trade Center (WTC) will include a train station, performing arts center, retail space, five new office towers, a memorial site and museum. The tallest and most tributary building is Tower 1, nicknamed “The Freedom Tower.” That’s not a superficial name, the new tower embodies freedom and pays homage to the structures that came before it, a common device in architectural design.

The top floor of the new Tower 1 will reach 1,362 feet (415 meters), the same height as the former WTC South Tower. A glass enclosed observation deck will float just above that at 1,368 feet (417 meters), the same height as the original WTC North Tower. An illuminated antenna will reach further, bringing the total height to 1,776 feet (541 meters). The height is a significant symbol of freedom; 1776 being the year the US declared independence from Great Britain.

The antenna’s design draws inspiration from the torch on the nearby Statue of Liberty, a symbol of freedom itself. The blinking aircraft warning light at the top will blink in a slightly irregular pattern, repeating one long flash followed by one short flash. This is Morse code for the letter “N” for “New York.”

Aesthetics frequently differ among structures, but Tower 1 is unique on the inside too. Slated to open in late 2013, this 105 story building will feature a fortified structural base. Basically, the lowest 19 floors don’t contain any inhabitable space. Instead, they form a reinforced concrete pedestal intended to protect the building from ground based terrorist attacks similar to the truck bomb attack in 1993.

The rest of the building employs a redundant steel moment frame with an additional 3 feet (91 cm) thick reinforced concrete shear wall around the inner spine of the building. The core contains elevators, stairwells, electrical risers and sprinkler systems. These structural features and redundancies make it the strongest skyscraper ever built.

There are some additional safety considerations too. The building is situated 65 feet (20 m) away from the street, nearly triple the distance the twin towers were from the street. Additionally, the windows nearest the road will be made of a special blast-resistant plastic. The ventilation system contains biological and chemical filters and there are extra-wide emergency stairs exclusively for firefighter use.

There are seventy elevators, including some super high-speed elevators that travel at 33 feet per second (10 m/s). Some elevators are exclusively for emergency and non-ambulatory use. For safety, elevators will have their own backup power supplies and stairways will be pressurized to keep smoke from entering them.

Photo taken from: Wikipedia Commons

Looking at the site plan, you may notice that WTC 6 is missing. WTC 1 is on the former site of WTC 6, so there will not be a new WTC 6. Although this plan calls for a WTC 5, the future of that tower is in question. The plans for WTC 5 were scrapped in 2008 when the major tenant pulled out in favor of another location in midtown manhattan. Tower 5 may get built, but there are no concrete plans at this time.

At the center of the site, a beautiful memorial has been created in the space that was once occupied by the twin towers. The memorial will be dedicated on September 11th, 2011 and be open to families who lost someone in the terrorist attacks. It will open to the public the following day.

Architects also designed the site so that every September 11th, between 8:46 am  and 10:28 am (the time the first plane hit to the time the second tower collapsed), the alignment of the Earth and Sun will create a bright wedge shaped highlight that focuses light toward the memorial plaza.

The two footprints of the original towers will be represented by square shaped waterfalls, some of the largest man-made falls in the world. The names of nearly 3,000 victims of the 1993 and 2001 terrorist attacks will be memorialized in a bronze bezel that will surround the two square waterfalls. Over 400 trees have been brought in from around New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, DC, to honor those who died in the WTC, on Flight 93 and in the attack on the Pentagon. Among these trees, there is one that was actually on-site when the towers collapsed.

Known as the “Survivor tree,” this callery pear tree was burned by the fires and covered by the rubble when the towers collapsed. The tree was uncovered weeks later and taken to a nearby nursery. It was not expected to survive, but after tender care and pruning, it has grown 30 feet tall and returned to the World Trade Center site. While the waterfalls, and the names around them, represent what we lost, the survivor tree represents the courage, growth and perseverance that remains.

Chad Upton is the editor-in-chief of Broken Secrets and an official Yahoo Answers contributor.

Images: Photo by edenpictures in Flickr, wikimedia commons

Sources: Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, LowerManhattan.info, WTC.com, NYPost, 911 memorial, dna info, wikipedia (1 world trade, World Trade Center Site), popsci

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Hey Guys,

Part of my job involves looking at the top web searches on Yahoo!. Week after week, one of the most popular “how to” queries is “how to make a citizens arrest.” Here’s the scoop.

The term gets thrown around a lot. So much so that people may believe it is as easy as shouting “citizen’s arrest” and putting somebody in a half nelson. That’s not the case.

For example, according to the Arizona State Legislature, a private person can make an arrest only under two specific scenarios. First, “When the person to be arrested has in his presence committed a misdemeanor amounting to a breach of the peace, or a felony.” Or second, “When a felony has been in fact committed and he has reasonable ground to believe that the person to be arrested has committed it.”

The official site from the Los Angeles County Sherrif offers up a similar explanation. “You have the right to arrest another person for a criminal act they commit in your presence. Unless absolutely necessary, you should avoid taking direct action and call us to avoid being injured or sued for false arrest. In some specific situations, limitations in the laws may make it necessary for a deputy sheriff to have you make a citizen’s arrest.”

Even then, be very, very careful. Private citizens (read: not police officers) don’t have the same level of protection from lawsuits. So, if you go around restraining people, you can open yourself up to a lot of serious problems. A better idea is to call the police if you witness a crime and give them as much information as possible. Leave the arrests to the cops. After all, they’re the ones with handcuffs.

Thanks for reading,

Mike

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Hey Guys,

I’ve seen my fair share of action movies over the years. And I’d say about 65% involve a car running into a fire hydrant. Of course, this results in water spurting out into the street, causing massive chaos on the screen and cheap laughs in the theater. But is that really what would happen?

Fortunately you don’t have to drive your own car into a hydrant to find out. I spoke with Adrian Sheppard at the Oakland Fire Department. He explained that, in this case, the movies weren’t lying.

“You would absolutely get a geyser,” Sheppard said. “50 feet tall.” I told him that I had heard that this wasn’t the case, that there are valves that prevent this sort of thing happening. “Nope,” said Sheppard. The valves actually have to be turned off after the fact. They’re usually underground, located near the hydrant. In fact, you can often find them yourself if you look for a white arrow on the street or sidewalk.

Same deal across the bay in San Francisco. I talked with Mindy Talmadge, public relations officer at the San Francisco Fire Department. She laughed and said that indeed a geyser would happen and quickly. When it does, a crew has to come out and manually close up the valve.

So, there you have it. Hollywood wasn’t lying (for once). It may be different in other cities, but in the Bay Area, if you hit a hydrant, you will get wet. So, drive safely, kids.

Thanks for reading,

Mike

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