Lake Mead Dropped So Far You Can Dive a 1948 Bomber (w sound!)

Lake Mead Dropped So Far You Can Now Dive A 1948 Bomber In 1948 a B-29 Superfortress was running high-altitude research over what is now Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Coming down, the pilot believed he was about 400 feet above the water. His altimeter was set wrong. Around 12:30 in the afternoon, doing roughly 230 miles an hour, the aircraft hit the lake and sank. Everybody got out. They climbed into life rafts and the Park Service picked them up. For most of the 78 years since, visiting that wreck meant technical diving — staged tanks, planned stops, equalizing on the way down and again on the way up. Not something you did on a vacation certification. The lake has fallen so far that it isn't a technical dive anymore. Lake Mead officials say the site is now open to all divers. Rangers are asking people to observe only and leave no trace. That's the whole story of this valley in one object: the thing that used to be too deep to reach is now a tourist attraction, and the reason is that we're running out of water. Also this week: Palantir's CTO says some AI researchers have taken up smoking, on the theory that AI will cure cancer before it matters — which gets us into whether faith in the future makes people reckless, and why this feels like the 1950s promising atomic-powered cars. Aaron Ford debated an empty podium in Carson City, which both gubernatorial candidates have now done. Nevada stopped enforcing red-dyed diesel rules. Tropical Storm Rachel's remnants turned the roads by the LINQ back into the flood channel they always were. And there's a company that wants to fire payloads into orbit out of a six-mile cannon in the desert near Tonopah. Drew, Slider and Mental. Three guys who actually live here. ⏱ IN THIS EPISODE 00:00 Cold open 00:46 The intro read 01:10 Aaron Ford debated an empty podium 01:43 Both candidates have now done this 02:50 Nevada stopped enforcing red-dye diesel 04:27 Tropical Storm Rachel flooded the Strip 04:34 In defense of the LINQ flood channel 05:03 Mental's pool is a construction site 06:58 AI researchers are taking up smoking on purpose 07:28 The Pope has lung cancer 09:11 Does faith in the future make you reckless? 11:02 Cancer is a mutation, not a cold 12:21 "Smoke for the cancer you want" 14:22 When faith starts looking like arrogance 14:48 The 1950s thought atomic energy would fix everything 15:33 This is the prequel to Wall-E 15:52 Somebody is building a rocket cannon 16:33 A mass driver, and the plan to put one near Tonopah 18:05 Ten kilometers of tube and a very large bang 20:16 Space isn't about up. Space is about velocity. 23:14 A B-29 crashed into Lake Mead in 1948 24:02 Why seeing it used to require technical diving 24:49 Now you can dive it on an open-water card 26:18 Where the lake goes from here 27:18 "You don't have water, but you have a new attraction" 27:31 The verdicts 🎰 ABOUT SIN CITY SPIN Three longtime Las Vegas friends — Drew Masur, Jason "Slider" LeDuc and Christian "Mental" Ward — with an irreverent, sharp, real-world take on the week's headlines. The Weekly Absurdity Rundown, from Vegas to the void. We live here. We're not reading you a brochure. 💬 TELL US WE'RE WRONG Disagree, correct our math, or find out where the good tacos are. 📧 sincityspin.podcast@gmail.com 📱 Text us: (702) 721-7328 Facebook · Instagram · Reddit · the thing formerly known as Twitter 🔗 WHAT WE READ Sunken B-29 now open to divers — FOX5 Vegas Historic Lake Mead B-29 — National Park Service Palantir CTO on AI researchers and smoking — TechSpot Nevada suspends red-dyed diesel enforcement — KOLO Ford debates an empty podium — KOLO Rachel's remnants flood roads near the Strip — FOX5 Vegas Longshot's space cannon — New Atlas Subscribe if you live here. Subscribe if you're visiting. Bring a tank. #LasVegas #Vegas #LakeMead #B29 #Superfortress #Scuba #ColoradoRiver #AI #Palantir #LongshotSpace #Tonopah #AaronFord #VegasPodcast #SinCitySpin