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[A_Fey_Dwarf]

Ever seen the show mythbusters? If you haven't I suggest you wiki it. Anyway, in the name DF science I would like to start a similar styled topic to prove/bust the common DF myths.
If you are unsure of anything in Dwarf fortress than feel free to post the myth so that I can prove it/bust it using pictures and methodical testing.

For the first myth I will try to (dis)prove is that of the desalinization plant. In this theory if ocean water comes in from a wave and lands in a channeled out pit with no actual linkage to the ocean then it will be drinkable. I will be testing this by using the:
a)Straight in the ground water storage method.
b)Built out of stone blocks where the water doesn't come into contact with the natural soil method.
I will post my results soon.

[inaluct]

Great idea, but nobody actually believes the wave thing. All water on ocean maps is salt water. Personally, I've never even heard that rumor.

[Qmarx]

Great idea, but nobody actually believes the wave thing. All water on ocean maps is salt water. Personally, I've never even heard that rumor.

Yeah.  You need to use pumps for the "desalination plant" thing

[DanielLC]

Do screw pumps pressurize magma, allowing the magma to go up to the hight of the screw pump?

Do magma vents fill from the top or bottom?

Does catching fish in a river have anything to do with the actual number of vermin swimming in the water?

Does smoothing walls only improve the value of the room from the side they're smoothed from?

[Pilsu]

Does a dwarf that has a like for a material and the object produced have higher effective skill?

[Mulch Diggums]

Does firing balista bolts into a raised bridge realy not destroy the balista bolt?

[CaveBacon]

(this would require dwarf companion)
use DC to create a copy of Captain Ironblood (name him "Buster Ironblood"), by making a dwarf legendary in at least 4 or 5 skills. 

Build a huge tower up to the highest z-level with a bridge coming off of it. Link up a lever to retract the bridge.

Dig a pit to the bottom of the world directly under the tower.

station Buster on the bridge, and have some dwarf pull the lever.


Does buster survive?
If not, try making him legendary in every skill.

Another idea: How many goblins can Buster Ironblood kill while on fire?

[Mulch Diggums]

Thats a good one, though it isnt exactly a myth.

[sneakey pete]

Do screw pumps pressurize magma, allowing the magma to go up to the hight of the screw pump?

Do magma vents fill from the top or bottom?

Does catching fish in a river have anything to do with the actual number of vermin swimming in the water?

Does smoothing walls only improve the value of the room from the side they're smoothed from?

Yes!

Bottom

No dependence at all

Haven't seen or run a conclusive test myself.

[Brendan]

Single-tile walls don't have 'sides' so when you smooth them it does indeed improve the quality of all rooms that the smoothed wall is a part of.

[Cheeetar]

I've heard of a booze bomb, and people saying that it's false, and I've never seen it before. Does the booze actually create an explosion, or is it just red steam?

[Cheeetar]

Single-tile walls don't have 'sides' so when you smooth them it does indeed improve the quality of all rooms that the smoothed wall is a part of.

Ah, but engravings only improve the value of the room the side it is engraved on. So, do smooth walls act like engraved walls?
Edit: Sorry for the double post.

[A_Fey_Dwarf]

Test one: Desalinization plant.

The dwarven science team and I  have decided to investigate the great myth of the desalinization plant.
There are three ways commonly thought of that work to get rid of the salt in the water.

Method

The first is the simpler of the two , You just dig a channel into the sand next to the ocean and hope that waves full it up:

Code: [Select]

. .  `'____ ,'. ,'` ..'  ,.
'., ' '.,' `  '.',. ''.   '
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The second requires a bit more work but is thought of as more reliable. It requires a mason to build stone floors and walls around the channeled pit to prevent any water from touching the ground and thus becoming recontaminated. It will probably look a bit like this:

Code: [Select]

., '  '++++++   ,.. '``.  `
., `  '+____+, ` "`.  `.,` ,
. . .` ++++++ ,'. ,'``. ..' 
'., ' '++++++' ` "`.  `.,, ,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The third of these tests involves pumping water directly from the ocean into a second pit and relies on the miracle working mysterious of the dwarven screw pump. E.G

Code: [Select]

., '  ' ,. |=|  ,.. '``.  `
., `  '. `.|+|R, ` "`.  `.,`
. . .`  '`.|P|`.  ,'. ,'``. ..
'., ' '`.  |P| ` "`.  `.,, ,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

R= Ramp up
P= pump

I will carry out 6 of these tests. Each one in an area with an aquifer and each one without.
Results will be recorded in the following table like so:

	Aquifer	No Aquifer
Soil Method
Masonry Method

Pump Method

To tell if the water is still saline I will just try to mark the area as a drinking zone and if that proves impossible then I will assume that the water is saline.

Can someone please inform me of how to get the table borders working, I tried 'table border=1' but that doesn't seem to work with BBCode


Results

Part one, an ocean embark with no aquifer.
The first and simplest test was the straight ocean to ground one. This was quickly busted:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The second and slightly harder test was also busted, it is now proven that a masons blocks will change nothing to salt water. The water had no contact with non-constructed walls and floors so I am pretty sure that I have knocked this one on the head (although this might change if an aquifer is present).

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The outcome of the third test was very much expected and when the dwarven screw pump pumped the salt water it became magically fresh.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Part two, an ocean embark with an aquifer.
(Coming tomorrow, It is time for me to go to sleep)

[sneakey pete]

Ah, but engravings only improve the value of the room the side it is engraved on. So, do smooth walls act like engraved walls?
Edit: Sorry for the double post.

Can you verify that? have you tested it, or read an actual test? Or are you just repeating what you heard (which is exactly what this thread is here to disprove. that kind of stuff.

Ok, i'll do a test, we'll see what happens.

Well well well.

I used the following setup

Code: [Select]

############
#..........#
#.########.#
#.#......#.#
#.#......#.#
#.#....B.#.#
#.#......#.#
#.#......#.#
#.#......#.#
#.###D####.#
#..........#
#.#......#.#
#####D######
A bedroom, so i could measure the value of the room down to the dwarfbuck, with locked doors to decide where it was engraved from.

At the start, the room was worth 284 D_bucks. After smoothing all the walls from the outside with engravers, it was worth 388 D_bucks.
Myth  Busted. It does not matter what side of the wall you smooth from.

I then proceeded to engrave the walls of the room with my adept engraver (the legendary+5 one is currently running around babbling ). At the end of this, the room value was.... 388 D_bucks.

Myth confirmed. The side of the room that engravings are done from DOES count.

[Qmarx]

If the desalination plant fails, try seeing if it works when the water doesn't touch non-constructed walls.


I think there was a working one on the pirate ship community game.