h a l f b a k e r y"Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
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A piece of hard grit fell from a shelf in my place of work and bounced off my colleague's bald head. This was a totally unexpected event.
Apart from the inevitable merriment, my curiosity lead me towards some research into this phenomena. There was none! I was shocked and surprised, but of course
delighted at the opportunity to provide the means of opening up a new pathway in the quest for knowledge of all things recordable and measurable.
The idea is actually simple: create an apparatus that enables statistics to be gathered then analysed, relating to the comparative abilities of bald heads to resist the impact of a small object being dropped directly on them.
Let's begin with the apparatus.
For the simplest results, this consists of a perspex tube that attaches comfortably to the subject's head. A series of holes at the top end enable balls to be dropped unto the head positioned below from various predetermined heights.
There are two parts to the data collection: input and outcomes
Input consists of:
height of drop
ball characteristics as listed
ie dimensions, weight, material (ball is available in lead, steel, basalt, oak, graphite, depleted uranium)
hair stubble length (if any) on subject's head
scalp skin fatty depth
Outcomes/results:
height of initial bounce
sustain ie time taken for bounce to decay to a resting position
Once a substantial body of statistics have been collected, they can be analysed and useful conclusions drawn.
Other experiments in this field re angular impacts are under consideration.
see illustration for prototype of actual apparatus
An Index of Non-Follicular Resistance apparatus prototype
https://sodabred.tu...llicular-resistance
illustration of proposed device [xenzag, Dec 22 2011, last modified Jun 10 2018]
2009 Ig Nobel Prize winner
http://dx.doi.org/1.../j.jflm.2008.07.013
"Are Full or Empty Beer Bottles Sturdier and Does Their Fracture-Threshold Suffice to Break the Human Skull?" [spidermother, Dec 24 2011]
[link]
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The Nobel Prize beckons you, [xen]. |
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I'd prefer the igNoble one of course. |
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Measuring stuff is always worthwhile. Especially when it isn't. + |
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Could be useful as a measurement of elasticity, or perhaps a substitute of Brinell Hardness. |
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// time taken for bounce to decay to a resting
position// Assuming a perfectly spherical head. In
fact, better assume a perfectly spherical head in a
vacuum. There's a spare vacuum chamber since
the cow died. |
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I think you'll have to explain that one to me [mouse] |
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//I'd prefer the igNoble one of course.// |
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Cranial impact related Ig Nobel prize? Oh, yes, it's very nice-a (link). |
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// I think you'll have to explain that one to me [mouse] // |
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He misread "Higgs Boson" as "Higgs Bison", is all. Easy mistake
to make. |
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//There's a spare vacuum chamber since the cow died.// Basically the same joke as "Do not stare into laser beam with remaining eye". |
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Also the Irish sawmill workers:
"How did you lose your finger?"
\
"Well, I just touched the big spinny thing like thi.. Oh, there goes another one!" |
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Illustration transferred to Tumblr account,
meanwhile I'm still waiting for news of my
development grant. |
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//Outcomes/results:
height of initial bounce
sustain ie time taken for bounce to decay to a resting
position// |
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That data will be semi-redundant. The latter could be
calculated directly from the former. |
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I'm putting you in charge of doing the sums :-) |
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