Sunday, July 30, 2006
A Little Imagination, a Double-Helping of Ambition, and an Industrial-Sized Roll of Toilet Paper
I was once told that it was impossible to eat seven Saltines in a minute, and after a few attempts, I was able to prove them wrong (as well as ensure that I’ll never want to eat a Saltine again). I then proceeded to lick my elbows and say "toy boat" ten times quickly. It's all possible, even though many don’t believe it.
However, there’s one challenge I have never been able to figure out – how to fold a piece of paper more than eight times. I have heard it stated as fact that one cannot fold a paper in half more than eight times, because the doubled and re-doubled paper quickly becomes too thick. This reasoning had always seemed pretty odd to me – what was this magical property of hardened tree pulp that caused it to stop folding after so long? Thanks to a student named Britney Gallivan, it turns out that this impossibility is just as mythical as not being able to lick your elbows
Read the Full Article at Damn Interesting
I was once told that it was impossible to eat seven Saltines in a minute, and after a few attempts, I was able to prove them wrong (as well as ensure that I’ll never want to eat a Saltine again). I then proceeded to lick my elbows and say "toy boat" ten times quickly. It's all possible, even though many don’t believe it.
However, there’s one challenge I have never been able to figure out – how to fold a piece of paper more than eight times. I have heard it stated as fact that one cannot fold a paper in half more than eight times, because the doubled and re-doubled paper quickly becomes too thick. This reasoning had always seemed pretty odd to me – what was this magical property of hardened tree pulp that caused it to stop folding after so long? Thanks to a student named Britney Gallivan, it turns out that this impossibility is just as mythical as not being able to lick your elbows
Read the Full Article at Damn Interesting