Where can I find/purchase a high res picture of Richard Drew's picture called The Falling Man?
posted by comatose on Jun 3, 2009 - 1 answer

As a purely hypothetical question, if a five-pound cat were to fall from an arbitrarily tall point, how long would it take him to reach terminal velocity? How fast would he be traveling at that point? Part II: If, say, someone was standing at the initial point, how long would it take the cat to drop completely out of sight? What is the longest distance an unaided human eye can perceive an armload-sized object, in other words? Assume the area is lit at about a 60-Watt bulb in a uniform manner. [more inside]
posted by Scattercat on Jan 27, 2009 - 12 answers

Ice falling from tall buildings filter. Help me lay to rest a question that has plagued my wife. We live in Chicago, with lots of tall buildings. Ice falls off of the buildings from time to time and about once a year, some poor bastard gets mushed. Where in terms of physics and I suppose statistics would be the safest place to walk down the sidewalk: as close to the building as possible? The middle of the sidewalk? The far edge? Does it depend on building height?
posted by Ponderance on Jan 7, 2009 - 16 answers

I need songs about falling and/or flying, but not in a metaphorical sense. [more inside]
posted by Lemurrhea on Apr 18, 2008 - 44 answers

Are there any financial institutions available in the US to buy Euros as a hedge against the falling dollar? [more inside]
posted by pikaboy202 on Mar 4, 2008 - 20 answers

How can I become less clumsy? [more inside]
posted by iamkimiam on Feb 12, 2008 - 34 answers

(Two part question: part 1 – help me find a reference, part 2 – am I crazy?) I know I have read somewhere that on rare occasions fish and frogs can be dragged from their watery residences by waterspouts and deposited miles away. There are many references on the web referring to this type of phenomena, but there is a particularly extreme example which I seek… [more inside]
posted by kmadd on Aug 13, 2007 - 9 answers

I'm trying to find a cartoon image of a cat falling from a (Dakota-type) aircraft. The caption said something like: "Sooty suddenly realised that it wasn't going to matter, even if he can land on all-fours from a mile up" [more inside]
posted by Dub on May 29, 2007 - 9 answers

Don't bullets fired into the air hurt or kill people when coming down? [more inside]
posted by Glow Bucket on Nov 10, 2006 - 39 answers

In the last couple of weeks I swear that I've seen a story, read a story, a dreamed a story about senior citizens and falling. The gist was something about senior citizens being too cautious about walking (taking tiny, slow steps) and that leading to more falls. I think. After that it is fuzzy. Do they then suggest stretching, yoga, or something else? I can't remember. Does this ring a bell? Or maybe the idea was to to teach them to fall...Or maybe have them take bigger steps...my memory fails me.
posted by wogbat on Jul 10, 2006 - 5 answers

Anyone use these "Yaktrax" thingys? More importantly, any experience using them on not-entirely-flat-soled-shoes? [more inside]
posted by desuetude on Dec 15, 2005 - 11 answers

This has been bothering me for quite some time so any help would be greatly appreciated. I've often heard that when one falls from a great distance (say out of an airplane or off a building) with no parachute, they will pass out in short order. I'm wondering if this is true, or if they will be concious throughout the fall until impact. Is there any science on either side of this question?
posted by neodem on Aug 17, 2005 - 23 answers

A colleague was trying to explain to me about a group of people based in the UK who have mastered the art of falling flat on their faces without injuring themselves, and practise this art in public. Does such a group really exist? [more inside]
posted by Ritchie on Jun 18, 2005 - 8 answers