After a terrifying near-miss, a TV audience was reminded that just because an experiment is taking place on-camera doesn’t mean it’s any safer than if it were done elsewhere.
When Australia’s “Studio 10” hosted YouTube science personality Jacob Strickling, the guest sent plastic Coke bottles flying by combining their contents with liquid nitrogen. The first two attempts, undertaken solely by Strickling, went off without a hitch, sending both bottles safely skyward.
However, once Strickling entertained the ill-advised notion of including host Natarsha Belling in the third attempt, things got very dangerous very quickly.
And kids, please don’t try this one at home.
By her own admission, Belling wasn’t paying attention to the procedure the first two times, so when she was enlisted, she appeared uncertain at best. Failing to place the inverted (and volatile) Coke bottle in a vertical position, the propelled item rocketed just inches from her face.
In a testament to the power of the projectile, a broken tree branch, fallout from the bottle’s impact above, fell to the ground.
One would hope that a kid-friendly science personality would exercise a little more discretion in controlling such a dangerous experiment, but this is the YouTube age, where anyone can be a star.