- Ever wondered what it'd be like
to take a punch from a zombie?
Well, science can help you out on that.
(guitar music)
A team of University of
Utah biologists have created
a pendulum apparatus to
launch a human cadaver fist
forward in a jaw rocking power
jab from beyond the grave.
Now, I know what you're wondering.
What has science wrought?
But don't fret.
No one's creating the world's first
Rock 'Em Sock 'Em corpse bots here.
This all centers around
biologist David Carrier's
continuing research into human evolution,
especially into the evolution of
these little money makers.
Here's his theory in a nutshell.
In a world of violent competition
over mates and resources,
only humans can throw a punch,
and the proportions of
the human hand allow us,
specifically those of us
who are dudes, Carrier says,
to make a fist that protects
all of its delicate bones, muscles,
and ligaments during impact.
Even our fellow primates fall short here.
They can't punch, and they
lack that fine manual dexterity
we demonstrate in our
crafting and tool use.
So, our earliest ancestors
may have benefited
from an evolutionary advantage
if they could punch hard
without injuring their
five-fingered murder weapons,
thus winning mates,
resources, tribal honor,
and you know, maybe the
occasional back rub, or something.
This latest study,
published in the Journal
of Experimental Biology,
attempts to level some
experimental data at the theory,
a theory that continues to generate
a little bit of controversy
due to its emphasis
on the evolutionary importance
of violent face-punching males.
First, Carrier and his
team collected cadaver arms
from nine mortal men doomed to die.
Then, they dissected
them to expose muscles
and attach fishing line
to all the tendons,
so as to puppet the
required hand positions.
Then, they loaded the arms into
this pendulum-like
apparatus in order to launch
various punches and slaps
into a padded, force detecting dumbbell.
The results, they found that
a clinched fist did provide
significant protection for the
puncher's metacarpal bones.
Carrier's findings suggest
that a fully buttressed fist
can safely strike with 55% more force
than an unbuttressed fist,
and 200% more than an open hand slap.
Carrier stresses that these
primal rage punch-outs
wouldn't have been the only
driving evolutionary force here,
but if true, his theory paints
yet another violent picture
of human ascension,
and he has the corpse puppets to prove it.
But, what about you?
Hit us up with your stance
on fist-based evolution
and corpse-slapping machines.
And, if you're down for
more grizzly, weird science,
be sure to punch into
now.howstuffworks.com
each and every day.
(bell dings)
