pic: Our machine is too fast...

[dlavery]

this is deffinatly a fake, theres no way a foam ball can shatter a windshield that badly. the root of the impact is way smaller than the size of a poof ball. nice try, funny lol

Ahem. Care to make a little wager on that?

Before anyone volunteers too quickly, I would remind you about the group of professional engineers that adamantly proclaimed that there was absolutely no way that a piece of lightweight foam could ever punch a gaping hole in a carbon-carbon reinforced panel on the leading edge of a wing.

I am not bringing this up to be maudlin. Rather, it is done to illustrate the point that we need to be very, very careful when making blanket statements. As engineers, we should understand that physical phenomena are typically bounded by certain parameters of performance. When we make assertions regarding those phenomena, it must be done in the context of the parameters relevant at the time. We must take care care when discussing these phenomena not to make statements such as "event X is always true" when what we really mean is "event X is always true when condition Y is true, otherwise it isn't." Otherwise, imprecision and inaccuracy will inexorably find their way into our communications. When that happens, we run the risk of losing the trust of the public and being perceived as an error-prone, lackadaisical profession.

-dave