#179 - whoa

yesterday on mythbusters they did a show on can a cable (pulled at high tension) cut someone clean in half if it snaps. it came about from those aircraft carriers that have cables to help airplanes slow down when they land:

so they tested whether or not they could split a person in half with a snapped cable (of course, they didn't use people, they used pigs, whole, dead, pigs... that was like half the fun). but alas, come rope, come 3/8ths inch cable, come 5/8ths inch cable at 30,000 lbs of tensions, the pig stayed intact, just with some nasty rope/cable burns. so, myth busted, although, just for kicks and giggles, they did get a forklift, wrap the cable around the pig and just pulled... y'know how potters use strings to cut through clay? it was as easy (and disgustingly awesome) as that.

i've always been very cautious about things that can kill me, i'm sure everyone is, but i think i'm a little more paranoid than the average person because my imagination can be very active, and when i envision possible scenarios i always think, "geez, how easy would it be to just have that happen?" like when i see people leaning on glass railings, i think, how simple would it be to just hop over that? or have it break? and that's unnerving because if i think, and imagine myself, say, hopping over a railing, how far from that is having my brain accidentally do it, right?

anyway, but the cable thing was busted... probably because the cable snap, although a very powerful force, is also very fleeting. and if mythbusters (and physics) have taught me anything, it's that enormous speed just isn't enough, you also need mass to create the kinds of forces that would press into and through the pig's skin. however, give yourself some kind of continuous force and something as simple as a jump rope can be deadly... geez, can you believe that? see? things like this are so easy to happen. i'm just amazed that they could put her hand back... but do you think the hand is evil now?