The Impossible Jenga Move

 

                 The Impossible Jenga Move 

 

♪♪ [ LAUGHTER ] OOH, OOH. WA-HA-HA. ELIJAH, YOU ARE SCARING THE BE JESUS OUT OF ME. WHO DOES NOT LOVE THIS GAME? IT IS A CLASSIC. 

 

THE RULES ARE PRETTY STRAIGHT FORWARD. WITH ONE HAND ONLY, YOU REMOVE A BRICK FROM A LOWER LEVEL AND PLACE IT ON TOP. Adam:OH, YEAH. AS YOU GO, OF COURSE, THAT TO WERGETS TALLER AND TALLER AND LESS STABLE AND, EVENTUALLY,USUALLY CRASHES DOWN. ELIJAH,ARE YOU READY? NO.YES. BUT THERE IS ONE  MATHICALLY IMPOSSIBLE MOVE IN JENGA, AND THAT IS INA LATE-STAGE GAME, IF THE WHOLE TOWER RESTSON A SINGLE BRICK, THE MYTH IS THAT IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO REMOVE THAT BRICK WITHOUT THE WHOLE TOWERCRASHING DOWN. OH! I THINK THAT'S A TEST ABLE PROPOSITION. 

Valerie: I WAS THINKINGA PNEUMATIC ACTUATOR, WHICH I ACTUALLY GOTFROM MY ROBOTICS EXPERIENCE. I WAS LIKE, "OH. YOU WANTTO PUSH SOMETHING OUT THAT'S FASTAND THAT'S STRONG?" I WAS LIKE, "OH, YEAH.PNEUMATIC ACTUATOR, PERFECT." Narrator: WITH AN AIR-POWEREDPISTON MOUNTED TO THE BASE OF A SWING ARM,THE SPEED IS MAXIMIZED, AND THE BLOCK IS KNOCKED OUT... IN THEORY. NOW I'M EXCITED. Narrator:WITH THE AIR TANK CONNECTED, VALERIE IS READY FORA LOW-PRESSURE PROOF OF CONCEPT. THREE, TWO, ONE.

THAT WAS AWESOME. [ SCREECHING ] ♪♪ OKAY. THAT'S A PRECARIOUSLATE-STAGE JENGA GAME. WILL HER AIR-POWERED PISTONPULL OFF THE IMPOSSIBLE? THE WAITING IS OVER.I'M GOING TO CHARGE THE TANK. OKAY. Narrator:WITH THE AIR PRESSURE SETTO ITS MAXIMUM RATING... OKAY.WE'RE AT 120 PSI. IT IS YOUR EXPERIMENT. COUNT IT IN. Narrator:...AND VALERIE'S NERVESEQUALLY HIGHLY CHARGED... OH, MY GOD. I JUST GOT BUTTERFLIESIN MY STOMACH, NO LIE. I'M LIKE, "OH, MY GOD.OKAY. OKAY." 

Narrator: ...THIS IS THE MYTH'S LAST CHANCE. THIS IS PNEUMATIC ACTUATOR TEST. THREE, TWO, ONE. -THAT WAS REALLY CLOSE.-OH! ♪♪ THAT WAS AMAZING. THAT WAS SO MUCH CLOSER THANI THOUGHT IT WOULD BE AFTER... -THAT WAS AWESOME.-...SEEING THE PREVIOUS TEST. 

Narrator:THREE OUT OF THREE FAILURES,BUT THEY'RE NOT CALLING IT YET. THE TEAM THINKS THERE'S AN ISSUE WITH THE SUPERSIZED BLOCKS. OUR THOUGHT PROCESS WAS THAT IF WE MADE THIS HUGE JENGA TOWER, THEN WE COULD HAVE BIGGER BLOCKS, WHICH WOULD MEAN THAT THERE'SA LARGER THING TO GRAB SO IT WOULD BE EASIERTO YANK IT OUT FROM THE BOTTOM. BUT WHAT WE DIDN'T ACCOUNT FORIS THE AMOUNT OF WEIGHT THAT WOULD BE PRESSING DOWNON IT WOULD A LOT MORETHAN ACTUAL GAME PLAY.

 Adam:IN SCALING UP OUR JENGA BRICKS,AS COOL AS THAT WAS, WE MESSED UP THE PHYSICS.SEE? WHEN YOU SCALE SOMETHING UPBY LENGTH, WIDTH, AND HEIGHT, YOU ALSO HAVE TOCOMMENSURABLY SCALE ITS WEIGHT, AND THUS, TO FINALLY TESTTHEIR RIGS AND CALL THIS MYTH, THEY'RE GOING BACKTO THE NORMAL-SIZE JENGA. Narrator:AND WITH THEIR RIGS REMODIFIEDFOR STANDARD-SIZE BLOCKS, THEY'RE READY. Elijah: WAIT. WAIT. WHERE'S THATTHING THAT I HAD THAT I WAS GOING TO... -ELIJAH!-NO! OKAY. SORRY.THAT WAS COMPLETELY MY FAULT. Narrator:ALMOST READY TO GO AGAIN. I'M GOING TO TWISTA LITTLE BIT... [BLEEP]-WAIT. DID YOU CURSE?-THAT'S ME CURSING. I CAN'T BELIEVE I CURSEDON CAMERA. I'VE BEEN SO GOODTHIS WHOLE TIME. NO, HE WASN'T.

 I HEARD HIM ONCE BEFORE.-WHAT DID HE SAY? Narrator:THIRD TIME IS A CHARM. OKAY.ALL RIGHT. WE ARE IN.EVERYBODY FOCUS. I'M GOING TO HAVE GRAY HAIRSAT THE END OF THIS. I THINK WE ALL ARE. I ALREADY HAD A GRAY HAIRAFTER FIRST GRADE. AH.THAT IS AWESOME. Narrator:QUESTION IS, "WILL IT WORK?" ARE YOU READY, ELIJAH? FINAL SMALL-SCALE BUNGEE TEST,JENGA TOWER IN THREE, TWO, ONE. -OH!-THAT WAS VERY, VERY GOOD. THAT WAS INCREDIBLE! ONE. OH! DUDE, THAT WAS A LOTMORE SUCCESSFUL.

I THINK WE'RE ON THE RIGHT TRACKGOING TO THE SMALL-SCALE JENGA. PUNCH IN, BUDDY. YEAH! ♪♪ Narrator:ALLIE IS NEXT. THE BIKE IS ATTACHED TO THEFISHING LINE AND CALIPERS, THE TOWER CONSTRUCTED,A NICKNAME BESTOWED... Allie: YOU BETTER NOTBE WRITING, "KICK ME." OH, GOSH, NO. I'M GIVING YOUA NICKNAME HERE. I'M CALLING YOU CRASH.-OKAY. I HOPE I DON'T,THOUGH. IT'S A NICKNAME,NOT A PROPHECY. Narrator:AND LAUNCH PROCEDURE INITIATED. JENGA BIKE TEST FINAL IN THREE... TWO... ONE. ♪♪ ♪♪ [ LAUGHS ] I SEE NO TOWER. TOTALLY DESTROYED. A PERFECT FAILURE. [ ADAM LAUGHS ] ♪♪ 

Allie: THAT WAS REALLY,REALLY FUN, ACTUALLY. I LIKE TO THINK OF MY SELF AS VERY COMPETITIVE, BUT I TRY NOT TO LET IT GET IN THE WAY OF JUST IMPORTANT THINGS LIKE THIS. Narrator:VALERIE IS UP LAST. WILL THIS JENGA JOURNEY END IN A BLOCK PARTY, OR WILL THEY CRASH AND LEARN? THIS IS PNEUMATIC ACTUATOR TEST, 120 PSI, FINAL TEST IN THREE... TWO... ONE. WHOA! [ LAUGHS ]THAT WAS AWESOME! [ LAUGHING ] [ LAUGHS ] THAT WAS AMAZING. ONE. ♪♪ AMAZING! THAT WAS AWESOME. -AMAZING.-YEAH! -ONE.-YOU COULDN'T EVEN SEE THAT. IT WAS JUST LIKE,IT WAS GONE.

 THAT'S CRA--IT'S A SAMURAI JENGA. THAT'S WHAT YOU INVENTED,A BRAND-NEW GAME. RIGHT. AMAZING.WELL DONE. THANK YOU. ♪ I DID THE IMPOSSIBLEJENGA BLOCK ♪ OH, MY GOD.IT WORKED! IT WAS SO COOL. A HUNDRED AND TWENTY PSI,AND THIS THING IS STANDING. MY PNEUMATIC ACTUATOR PUSHED OUTTHE IMPOSSIBLE JENGA BLOCK, WHICH WAS JUST AMAZING. Narrator:YEP. WITH AN IMPACT VELOCITYOF 75 MILES PER HOUR, THERE'S LITTLE TIMEFOR FRICTION, AND THE TOWER STAYS STANDING. AT THIS POINT, YOU MIGHT BEWONDERING, I CAN HEAR YOU THINKING

• "I WONDER HOW MUCH OF THOSE MECHANICAL SOLUTIONS THE KIDS CAME UPWITH THEMSELVES," AND I'M HERE TO TELL YOU THEY DID, AND IT TOTALLY WORKED. THE IMPOSSIBLE JENGA MOVE IS, IN FACT, POSSIBLE. Valerie: ONE. WHOA! [ LAUGHS ]THAT WAS AWESOME.