What happens if you go into quicksand

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Always consult your own GP if you're in any way concerned about your health. Medical Myths Death. Can quicksand really suck you to your death?

Share using Email. By Claudia Hammond 29th March Death-by-quicksand is a favourite of B-movie directors. But would a hapless cowboy or bandit really be sucked under? BBC Future pokes a tentative toe into the science…. To survive a fall into dry quicksand, you need outside help as quickly as possible. Around the BBC. It's easy to sink into the mixture. It's nearly impossible to suddenly pull free, but slow movements allow time for the fluid to flow!

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Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph. Chemistry Expert. Helmenstine holds a Ph. She has taught science courses at the high school, college, and graduate levels. Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter. Updated December 04, Key Takeaways: Quicksand Quicksand is a non-Newtonian fluid made of sand mixed with water or air. It changes its viscosity in response to stress or vibration, allowing you to sink, but making it hard to escape.

You can only sink into quicksand up to your waist. Really, the only way to drown from the quicksand is to fall into it head first or face first. A rescuer can't simply pull a victim out of quicksand. However, a person or branch can be used to help reduce the victim's weight, making it easier to work free and float. Even though you can't sink all the way into quicksand, it's a killer.

Death can come in the form of suffocation, dehydration, hypothermia, predators, crush syndrome, or drowning from a river or incoming tide. The best way to prevent a fatality is to keep a charged cell phone with you so you can call for help. If you have to rescue yourself, wriggle your legs to make the quicksand more fluid while trying to sit back into the quicksand to increase your body's surface area. Would you be able to survive in this new world? Could you get yourself a pet All over the world, people are treating bodies of water like they are giant garbage dumps.

And experts say that continuing these practices will result in catastrophic What do you say we try to survive on an Earth They suck your blood and spread disease, killing nearly one million people each year. Are we talking about vampires? Related videos. Add comment. You may also like. Our lungs might be fine in that short a time frame, but the rest of the planet?

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