Science sinks the myth of a slow death in quicksand

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

IT IS a staple scene of B-movies and Westerns: the cowboy stumbles into a patch of quicksand and is sucked under until only his stetson remains on top, or sinks up to his neck until hauled out by his sidekick.

Both scenarios have now been proved to fly in the face of physics. Research has shown that it is impossible for people to sink into quicksand much beyond the waist — but it is equally impossible to pull someone out once they are stuck.

Any attempt to drag a person out with a horse or truck would put them in much greater danger than leaving them be: the forces involved would tear them apart. To pull a person’s foot out would require as much force as it takes to lift a family car, and the body would give way before the sand relinquished its grip.

At least one commonly held belief about quicksand, however, does turn out to be true, the first detailed analysis of the physics of the treacherous goo has found. Struggling and thrashing your legs will make you sink more quickly. It is movement that makes unstable the mixture of sand, clay and salt water that makes up quicksand. #

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-1802439,00.html

so now you know!

[Shell Beau]

1. This is a dupe! Sorry!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x4074030

[skoppa]

2. We didn't need scientists to figure this one out...

...have you ever seen "Myth Busters?" Well, if you haven't, it's a tv show that busts myths and they did the quicksand like last year or the year before.