• Hossenfeffer
    link
    fedilink
    English
    621 month ago

    That poor bastard yak (or whatever) wandered into the wrong canyon that day.

    • @PugJesusOP
      link
      English
      52
      edit-2
      1 month ago

      “Ugg want to do science.”

      “What ‘science’?”

      “Throw eight spears at a yak.”

      “Ogg like science!”

    • @ahti
      link
      English
      551 month ago

      Don’t worry, he’s alright. I found him right beneath your comment:

      ██▅▇██▇▆▅▄▄▄▇

      • @dvlsg
        link
        English
        51 month ago

        Is he alright? Looking awfully pale, if you ask me.

  • @thesporkeffect
    link
    English
    341 month ago

    As an atlatl expert (I watched several YouTube videos) they have an upward launch trajectory and seem to be ideal for longer-ranged flat ground engagement. This would suggest more utility for forest and open plains hunting where terrain advantage does not exist.

    • @InverseParallax
      link
      English
      91 month ago

      The loss of accuracy and more cumbersome handling seems to outweigh the increase in power?

      Seems like I would just want to carry 2 spears, throw one after the other?

      • @PugJesusOP
        link
        English
        26
        edit-2
        1 month ago

        The atlatl darts used in this research were much lighter than the spears, as is usual for atlatl darts. So you can carry more of them. Also, atlatl darts are faster and more accurate - the difference demonstrated here is of energy on impact, which is more important when hunting big game - and of relative differences in performance when elevated vs. even ground.

        • @InverseParallax
          link
          English
          101 month ago

          So, if you’re an atlatl expert I see it.

          But this is why we transitioned to crossbows from longbows, takes a lifetime of training to make a good longbowman.

          Then again, not like they had anything better to do.

      • @thesporkeffect
        link
        English
        161 month ago

        As I understand it, the atlatl enabled much more efficient and powerful throwing without much loss of accuracy. A brief search for figures says it can hit a grapefruit at 40m range

        “For an experienced atlatl thrower, the mechanical advantage of the atlatl over throwing with the arm alone is about 6:1. Thus, if you can throw a dart 15 meters with your arm alone, you could throw it about 91 meters with the atlatl.”

  • @evasive_chimpanzee
    link
    English
    71 month ago

    This is the lab behind the poop knife. They are absolutely experts in this kind of thing.

    I need to read the whole paper, but I suspect the weight/wind resistance ratio of the javelin is better, and that the motion of launching an atlatl dart is affected by the downward angle. The railing on the scissor lift likely has an effect, too.

    • @PugJesusOP
      link
      English
      91 month ago

      In both cases last names are used; I believe they’re both men.

    • Uncle
      link
      fedilink
      English
      31 month ago

      Eren and Erin are scum, dirty names that should be scrubbed from the history books, not the people, just the name.

      Right along with Arron and Aron, they are also fake names and should be deleted.

      Full disclosure, my name might be Aaron

    • @PugJesusOP
      link
      English
      9
      edit-2
      1 month ago

      Eren and Kim are both men, I believe.

      Though, separately, yes, I believe that atl-atls have less gender variation than thrown spears.

      • Jake Farm
        link
        fedilink
        English
        61 month ago

        Yeah I figured that even if they were first-names it wasn’t obvious the example was about gender differences.

      • Jake Farm
        link
        fedilink
        English
        61 month ago

        It’s fascinating that archaic weapons have been tested to that extent.