Impact Drivers, Komodo Dragons, & The Problem of Space Elevators

Welcome back to Science Goes Gaming Science Goes Boom. We’ve been playing a lot of games at the Guerra homestead lately and thought we’d explore a few science-y aspects from the classics, starting with the OG of Dad games, Risk:

The shortest point across some distances is not a straight line? Mind blown:

And now the science of the OG driveway game:

The science of putting a rifle round on the money:

Now say hello to my little friend, the impact driver:

How does the Komodo Dragon kill a water buffalo? Nobody really knows. There’s also a brief discussion of confirmation bias, which the scientist doesn’t seem to recognize in himself regarding climate change. Ironic:

[Parent’s Note: Super long commercial for Nebula begins at the 27:00 timestamp, so stop there.]

Why everything we think we know about warfare archery is wrong:

Calling Spider-Man: We need a lightweight strand of immeasurable strength to support our brilliant but weird idea:

A rare earth magnet meets thermite, meets The Backyard Scientist. What could go wrong?

And finally, I may have posted this before but here’s my favorite Rube Goldberg machine. I was looking for one that uses guns and explosions but couldn’t find a good one. If you know of one that’s kid-friendly, please send me a link:

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Additional Homeschool Resources:

My modern war series makes a great gift for history nerds and action fans (high school and up). Available online wherever books are sold: