This week, James takes his turn as editor. He has assigned the Blog Team the theme of “Science.” When we say “Science,” this is what Luke thinks . . . .

By Luke Langlois

Isn’t it nifty how words on a screen can instantly strike an image into your consciousness? For example, when I say MAD SCIENTIST you see a dimly lit room with a chemical-explosion-covered person laughing maniacally. Typically, there are also steaming Erlenmeyer flasks sitting in the background filled with eye-popping neon pink liquid. Don’t forget the conveniently timed thunderstorms! It is (probably) safe to say that this stereotypical mad scientist does not exist outside of our science fiction. But, we have REAL mad scientists out there who have some pretty “out there” ideas. Then again, most ground-breaking scientists have to be at least a little mad, but that’s a different matter. 

Anyway, this post’s mad scientist is not actually a scientist at all. He’s an artist who used scientific principles in a now-notorious design. In 2010, Lithuanian Ph.D. candidate Julijonas Urbonas from London’s Royal College of Art came up with the “Euthanasia Coaster.” Urbonas had an experience working at an amusement park, and it was such an inspiring tenure that he decided to design a roller coaster that would send twenty-four passengers to the end of the line. His goal, of course, was to elegantly take a human life.

You may be asking yourself how that would work. Anyone, who’s taken their chances with a roller-coaster has imagined typical scenarios that would result in gruesome injuries. Well, maybe it’s just me. What if a piece of the track mysteriously disappeared? What if we started going backward on that steep hill the coaster climbs? Certainly, the result of those mechanical failures would be no fun, but Urbonas’s coaster design has no dramatic collisions. The coaster would instead use the power of the gravitational force equivalent, more commonly known as g-force, to reach its terminal point. The coaster’s track would take its passengers on a brisk climb to 1,670 feet. Once there, the coaster would take a 1,600-foot plunge, accelerating the coaster to 220 miles per hour. For reference, Splash Mountain at Disneyland has a drop of 49 feet. After reaching this speed, the coaster would make its way through seven clothoid inversions, which is commonly known as a corkscrew loop in the typical amusement park world. Does it sound fun, you DAREDEVIL? I’m sure it would be a blast if you could withstand the lethal 10 g. The coaster’s speed and inversions would make its passengers suffer from an insufficient amount of oxygen to the brain (cerebral hypoxia). The passengers would quickly experience symptoms of g-force induced loss of consciousness. The seven loops ensure that they permanently remain in this state. 

Researching the “Euthanasia Coaster” has made me realize a couple of things. For one, I have another layer of respect for the team of engineers and designers that build our roller coasters. Thank you for making them fun and not lethal. More importantly, though, just how amazing is the human mind for coming up with this! I defined it as “mad science,” but it is BRILLIANT science. At the end of the day, all I have to say is be mindful of your amusement park choices. 

Sources

Editor: James Zheng