
When water balloons hit a bed of nails and don't pop - Mz
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/23/science/pancake-bounce-water-balloons-bed-nails.html?_r=0
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amelius
Fakirs have known this for a long time, e.g. [1].

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bed_of_nails](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bed_of_nails)

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tzar
Yes, they've known about preventing puncture due to weight distribution, but
this article is mostly about a different kind of bounce where the balloon (or
water droplet) preserves its flattened shape even as it achieves clearance
from the nails.

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lordnacho
This is a good reminder that there's research to be done in classical physics
and engineering, not just fundamental particle stuff.

Even though we know (or think we know) how things like force, pressure,
tension, etc work at this scale, there's still explanation to do.

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geon
When visitors hit a paywall and don't pay

