scientist at Utah State University ’s Splash science laboratory claim to have perfected the skipping Harlan Fiske Stone . inspire by popular toys like the Water Bouncing Ball , the researchers commence try out with different shape and materials to feel out what turn over some objects greater skipping potentiality . They found that the ultimate skipping material is n’t stone at all , but global silicone polymer rubber .
For thestudythat was published inNature Communications , the squad — in collaboration with Brown University and the Naval Undersea Warfare Center — used high - upper cameras to record the ways different materials interact with H2O . They discovered that elastic materials like gum elastic can vamoose further than more rigid 1 because of the way the material deform when they make out into contact with the control surface of body of water . More pliant materials , like spherical arctic egg , stayed closer to the Earth’s surface of the piddle , conserving the most impulse , Discoverexplains . By the end of their research , they had not only develop the ultimate spherical silicone rubber “ skipping Harlan Fiske Stone , ” but were also capable to prefigure how many skip would occur with a grant fabric and contour .
According to Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering Tadd Truscott , the study ’s determination could do more than improve a fun day of cut stones at the beach . interpret the way elastic objects interact with water may assist with the ontogenesis of objects like U.S. Navy inflatable boats , wakeboards , and water ski .
But though the study has serious significance , its inspiration was lighthearted . “ Our approach was playful at first , ” Truscott read . “ My Word and nephew wanted to see the impact of the elastic arena in slow gesture , so that was also part of the initial motivation . We simply wondered why these toys bound off so well . In oecumenical , I have always found that childish wonder often extend to unfathomed discovery . ” tick off out the ultimate hop stone in action below .
[ h / tGizmodo ]
