Researchers Explode Celery To Learn About Shock Waves And Brain Damage

Armored vehicles in Afghanistan (top) guard against whirling bomb fragments,
but do little to prevent brain damage.

From Popular Mechanics:

To measure the effects of shock waves on humans, researchers are turning to vegetables. It turns out you can learn a lot from celery about brain damage caused by bombs.

Armored vehicles enable U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to survive roadside explosive attacks. But the shock waves from such blasts have left survivors with traumatic brain injuries. It is difficult to study how to mitigate these injuries: The lab dummies typically used in such research are good for measuring blunt trauma, but they are largely unaffected by the effects of shock waves, according to Dr. Mark George, a neurologist at the Medical University of South Carolina.

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My Comment: A fascinating read. I hope that this research can help our troops.