Physics makes a leap forward thanks to UBC science
A common question I’ve received is about what universities are “famous” in Canada, in the way that Harvard University is famous. Today I learned that UBC is proving itself a leader in physics research by proving that the Cow-tipping myth hasn’t got a leg to stand on (hat-tip: Boing Boing)
[View Diagram] Margo Lillie, a doctor of zoology at the University of British Columbia, and her student Tracy Boechler have conducted a study on the physics of cow-tipping.
MS. Boechler, now a trainee forensics analyst for the Royal Canadian Mounted Corps, concluded in her initial report that a cow standing with its legs straight would require five people to exert the required force to bowl it over.
A cow of 1.45 metres in height pushed at an angle of 23.4 degrees relative to the ground would require 2,910 Newtons of force, equivalent to 4.43 people, she wrote.
Is there anything science can’t do?