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Discoblog
« Military Blob-bot to Ooze Its Way Past Enemy Lines
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NCBI ROFL: Are full or empty beer bottles sturdier and does their fracture-threshold suffice to break the human skull?

“Beer bottles are often used in physical disputes. If the bottles break, they may give rise to sharp trauma. However, if the bottles remain intact, they may cause blunt injuries. In order to investigate whether full or empty standard half-litre beer bottles are sturdier and if the necessary breaking energy surpasses the minimum fracture-threshold of the human skull, we tested the fracture properties of such beer bottles in a drop-tower. Full bottles broke at 30 J impact energy, empty bottles at 40 J. These breaking energies surpass the minimum fracture-threshold of the human neurocranium. Beer bottles may therefore fracture the human skull and therefore serve as dangerous instruments in a physical dispute.”

Thanks to Pierre P. for today’s ROFL!

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October 15th, 2009 3:00 PM by ncbi rofl in analysis taken too far, ethanol, NCBI ROFL | 3 comments | RSS feed | Trackback >

  • http://www.chrismclaren.com/blog/2010/03/11/aside-i-could-find-more-absurd-ones/ Homo Sum » Blog Archive » Aside: I could find more absurd ones

    [...] has nothing, absurditywise, on published humanities. (I’d actually be interested in reading the results of “Are full or empty beer bottles sturdier and does their fracture-threshold suffice to break [...]

  • Ivar

    OK, I see the use in forensic science; yet: Is the study not giving murderers more tools, rather than help forensic scientists? Isn’t this more likely to be used as trivia in a fight, than in an investigation?

    Scary.

  • Jockaira

    This is worthwhile science…I can see the information solving a lot of barroom conflicts before they deteriorate to an outright brawl with possible injuries…however I can also see it causing many fights when challenges are issued for citations.

    In my own case it will have little effect, except that I may throw away my brassknucks (illegal almost everywhere) in preference to easily available, and almost as effective, empty beer bottles from the nearest dumpster…one concussion lite, coming up!





    • About the Blog

      Discoblog is DISCOVER's compendium of quirky, funny, and surprising science news from the edge of the known universe. It's written by Veronique Greenwood and Valerie Ross. Email tips and suggestions to vgreenwood [at] discovermagazine [dot] com.

      Discoblog also includes the daily feature NCBI ROFL, in which two prone-to-distraction grad students post real scientific articles with funny subjects. Email your tips to ncbirofl [at] gmail.com. Follow the ROFL feed here.

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