In his latest What If , Randall cites an old discussion about survivable falling height. Cool!gabriela , though.
Wow, Entertainment Weekly and xkcd in one week. The SDMB has really hit the big time!
For those who, like me, are having trouble finding the cite: click on note [5].
Checking her threads, I saw this .
Mr. Slant, I cannot belong to the Dope; the rules at my workplace would have me strung up. I only took the free guest month because somebody wanted to know how far you have to fall to die, and my memory is bursting with one of the few actual studies on that very topic. I shouldn’t really be posting but I think I can slide with General Questions since I am allowed to use the Net to find out work-related information. A lot of y’all here are far more informed than I am on - well on everything, but to make it work-legitimate, on tangentially forensics-related questions such as Pistols vs Revolvers (see thread). I know what bullets do to the body, but not much about what fires 'em. However, that doesn’t legitimate me paying money to belong to the Straight Dope through a work-protected proprietary server, and so, as of April 2, I’m gone.
So, blame the paid-subscribers-only model the SDMB was working under at the time.
Der_Trihs:
Checking her threads, I saw this .
So, blame the paid-subscribers-only model the SDMB was working under at the time.
She bought a subscription or someone bought one for her. It seems like she left after people started questioning her credentials and her stories- either because she made up some things or because she didn’t enjoy being put on trial.
She was being hounded by Waverly and Q.E.D., if I recall correctly. Yep, her last post is here . I miss her posts.
“Falling With Helium .” (Click on Note 5.)
Additionally, while researching impact speeds for this article, I came across a discussion on the Straight Dope Message Boards about survivable fall heights. One poster compared a fall from height to being hit by a bus. Another user, a medical examiner, replied that this was a bad comparison:
“When hit by a car, the vast majority of people are not run over; they are run under. The lower legs break, sending them into the air. They usually strike the hood of the car, often with the back of the head impacting the windshield, “starring” the windshield, possibly leaving a few hairs in the glass. They then go over the top of the car. They are still alive, although with broken legs, and maybe with head pain from the nonfatal windshield impact. They die when they hit the ground. They die from head injury.”
The lesson: Don’t mess with medical examiners. They’re apparently pretty hardcore.
He links to this 2006 thread and in particular this post by gabriela .
It’s always fun seeing references to the SDMB, and doubly so when we’re being referenced by one of my favorite sources.
Good thing that’s under Gruesome Questions.
I miss gabriela sooooo much.
Sniff Yeah, me too. Even when she commented on my giving her a “vaguely lunatic [nick]names with horrifying undertones.”
(What? What’s wrong with “psychopomp”? It was a compliment! :smack:
Also got cited by the BBC:
The most eloquent reasoning I could find is from Emerson Kamarose of San Jose, California (from the Chicago Reader’s Straight Dope column in 1991): “As any fool can plainly see, when the game-show host opens a door you did not pick and then gives you a chance to change your pick, he is starting a new game. It makes no difference whether you stay or switch, the odds are 50-50.”
It’s a week of citation, apparently.
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