How to Escape Quicksand....................

[klaszlo]

Hello:

Semi-typical article on the "hows" and "whys" of QS.

http://www.bit.ly/1YOeLqo

Enjoy.

KL

[Chimerix]

Strikingly, to pull a foot out at a rate of 1 centimeter per second would require the same force needed to lift a medium-sized car, Bonn and colleagues found

I see this so many times, and I just can't get over the sheer idiocy of it! Where is the original study, and what was the methodology? Or are people just hella stronger than I think? Let me go find a medium-sized car, and try to lift it with my foot. You know, bring some empiricism to the mix.

[klaszlo]

Hello:

The source is at...........

http://www.bit.ly/1P2pMtS

A dense and fairly technical piece.

If that link does not open correctly...
go to...

http://www.bit.ly/1YRiwM3

and try the link at the end.

KL

[Chimerix]

Well, that doesn't help. Their assertion that 10^4 Newtons, or roughly 2,200 ft/lbs, is needed to lift a foot at 1 cm/sec has no reference, and none of the data is supplied. How deep is the foot? What are the characteristics of the sand? I've pulled my foot out from collapsed wet sand many times, as deep as my knee. Sure, it's been hard, but I refuse to believe I was exerting 2,200 ft/lbs of pressure. I'm pretty sure that kind of force would dislocate joints, but I see no shortage of models who get sunk in bogs of all descriptions getting out without the use of a winch.

No, there's something wrong with this study.