The Internet has a cornucopia of videos of people hilariously performing stupid stunts and hurting themselves. These misguided people fail miserably in their adventurous endeavors in front of a camera, laying their humiliation bare for everyone to laugh at as the videos are uploaded to the web. Some may call laughing at people hurting themselves schadenfreude▼, or pleasure derived from someone's misfortune. While it may be impolite to laugh at others' mishaps, no one expected their failure to be so funny.
The ensuing▼ hilarity▼ of each video clip, coupled with scientific analyses on what went wrong, is presented on National Geographic Channel's (NGC) Science of Stupid 2, hosted by Richard Hammond. Each episode contains 50 to 60 clips, ranging from daily activities and sports to stunts and adventures. As is expected, some amateurs who try to tackle scientific principles, like the laws of physics, end up failing terribly. Hammond gives scientific explanations as to what happened in each clip, accompanied with animated re-creations of the videos, to show what should have been done instead.
In one episode, the feats of running on water and breathing fire are examined in depth. Both stunts have been around for millennia▼, but one is pure myth and the other is highly dangerous, even for professionals. For humans to run on water, they would have to run at a speed of 67 miles per hour, which is about three times faster than Usain Bolt, currently the world's fastest man. To breathe fire safely, a specific type of fuel and technique is a surefire way to not set you aflame. However, that doesn't stop people failing time and again. To find out more about this episode and bellow▼ with laughter, check out Science of Stupid 2 this month on NGC.
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