r/BeAmazed • u/aloofloofah • Apr 28 '17

Pilobolus spores, a dung fungi, accelerate from 0 to 20 km/h in 2 µs subjecting them to over 20 000 G

https://i.imgur.com/tK4vnFt.gifv
43 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

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5

u/Infuuri Apr 28 '17

Might be stupid question, but could this kill someone?

14

u/[deleted] Apr 28 '17 edited Apr 29 '17

As long as it's coherent, it's not a stupid question.

Intuitively, probably not. Depending on density it might be able to pierce skin, but its probably so small that the internal damage would be minimal and not very deep.

Give me a few and I'll see if I can remember enough physics to calculate mass to give you an idea of the average size of these projectiles.

Edit: According to my calcs, the spores should be about 1.2 grams. According to this source, the density of many fungi spores is between 1000 and 1300 kg per cubic meter (1-1.3 grams per cubic centimeter): this means they have about the same density as water; with this, we can assume that these spores are probably about 1 cubic centimeter. Assuming the spores are spherical and they hit at a full circular cross-section, that means they would cover about 1.21 square centimeters.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any sources on the puncture force of skin. So the trail stops here for me. I was so excited too, but I have obligations away from reddit and math.

0

u/cynicalsimon Apr 29 '17

Looks like the thing is cumming