The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #147881   Message #3431137
Posted By: JohnInKansas
04-Nov-12 - 10:49 PM
Thread Name: BS: The Mythbusters airplane takeoff problem
Subject: RE: BS: The Mythbusters airplane takeoff problem
Survival after free fall depends almost entirely on the ballistic coefficient of the object, and data is not readily at hand for hamsters. There is a reasonable expectation that a hamster might survive with adequate PLF training.

A well known axiom used to explain "scale factors" in assessing such possibilities is:

"You can't kill a flea by throwing it up against the wall, but throwing an elephant the same way makes one helluva mess."

John