How durable would a person need to be to survive impact at terminal velocity?

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For a fantasy race, or for bio-augmented humans, how durable would they have to be to walk away from a 1000ft free fall unscathed? And how would this logically translate to other forms of durability?



Would it make gunfire from calibers like 9mm or .45 entirely ineffectual? What about more powerful rounds like .308 or even .50cal?



Would the force from a bullet that powerful be enough to crack the skull of someone able to survive landing on their head if pushed off a skyscraper?






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    – JBH
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    Can I be bioaugmented to a weight of 1 kg? I am pretty sure that between that and my (considerable) surface area, terminal velocity would be pretty manageable. Maybe I could even glide around some, flying-squirrel style. I would stay inside when it was windy, or have my sidekick hold some kind of tether.
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    – Willk
    Jan 21 at 1:58







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    It's not terminal velocity that kills, it's the sudden stop at the end.
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    – pojo-guy
    Jan 21 at 3:07






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    If they survive, then clearly the velocity wasn't terminal.
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    – Mark
    Jan 21 at 23:39






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    You would need to either be squishy enough (bones, organs, EVERYTHING) to absorb all of the impact without suffering massive internal bleeding or you need to be strong/heavy enough and deliver enough PSI to break through the surface which you land on in order to cushion your fall. There is a reason that they instruct martial arts students to punch through the board in order to avoid breaking their wrists. If you are squishy then bullets would deal less damage to you but if you chose the strong route then they would be better off aiming into your rib-cage instead of your skull.
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    – MonkeyZeus
    Jan 22 at 14:35
















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For a fantasy race, or for bio-augmented humans, how durable would they have to be to walk away from a 1000ft free fall unscathed? And how would this logically translate to other forms of durability?



Would it make gunfire from calibers like 9mm or .45 entirely ineffectual? What about more powerful rounds like .308 or even .50cal?



Would the force from a bullet that powerful be enough to crack the skull of someone able to survive landing on their head if pushed off a skyscraper?






science-based biology weapons materials







share|improve this question











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  • 12




    $begingroup$
    My parent's description of how hard my head was when I was a teen would suggest an age-based mechanism. Welcome to the site! When you get a chance, please take our tour. Thanks!
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    – JBH
    Jan 21 at 1:57






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    Can I be bioaugmented to a weight of 1 kg? I am pretty sure that between that and my (considerable) surface area, terminal velocity would be pretty manageable. Maybe I could even glide around some, flying-squirrel style. I would stay inside when it was windy, or have my sidekick hold some kind of tether.
    $endgroup$
    – Willk
    Jan 21 at 1:58







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    It's not terminal velocity that kills, it's the sudden stop at the end.
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    – pojo-guy
    Jan 21 at 3:07






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    If they survive, then clearly the velocity wasn't terminal.
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    – Mark
    Jan 21 at 23:39






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    You would need to either be squishy enough (bones, organs, EVERYTHING) to absorb all of the impact without suffering massive internal bleeding or you need to be strong/heavy enough and deliver enough PSI to break through the surface which you land on in order to cushion your fall. There is a reason that they instruct martial arts students to punch through the board in order to avoid breaking their wrists. If you are squishy then bullets would deal less damage to you but if you chose the strong route then they would be better off aiming into your rib-cage instead of your skull.
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    – MonkeyZeus
    Jan 22 at 14:35














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$begingroup$


For a fantasy race, or for bio-augmented humans, how durable would they have to be to walk away from a 1000ft free fall unscathed? And how would this logically translate to other forms of durability?



Would it make gunfire from calibers like 9mm or .45 entirely ineffectual? What about more powerful rounds like .308 or even .50cal?



Would the force from a bullet that powerful be enough to crack the skull of someone able to survive landing on their head if pushed off a skyscraper?






science-based biology weapons materials







share|improve this question











$endgroup$




For a fantasy race, or for bio-augmented humans, how durable would they have to be to walk away from a 1000ft free fall unscathed? And how would this logically translate to other forms of durability?



Would it make gunfire from calibers like 9mm or .45 entirely ineffectual? What about more powerful rounds like .308 or even .50cal?



Would the force from a bullet that powerful be enough to crack the skull of someone able to survive landing on their head if pushed off a skyscraper?






science-based biology weapons materials




science-based biology weapons materials






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edited Jan 21 at 17:50









Cyn

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asked Jan 21 at 1:32









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    My parent's description of how hard my head was when I was a teen would suggest an age-based mechanism. Welcome to the site! When you get a chance, please take our tour. Thanks!
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    – JBH
    Jan 21 at 1:57






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    Can I be bioaugmented to a weight of 1 kg? I am pretty sure that between that and my (considerable) surface area, terminal velocity would be pretty manageable. Maybe I could even glide around some, flying-squirrel style. I would stay inside when it was windy, or have my sidekick hold some kind of tether.
    $endgroup$
    – Willk
    Jan 21 at 1:58







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    It's not terminal velocity that kills, it's the sudden stop at the end.
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    – pojo-guy
    Jan 21 at 3:07






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    If they survive, then clearly the velocity wasn't terminal.
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    – Mark
    Jan 21 at 23:39






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    You would need to either be squishy enough (bones, organs, EVERYTHING) to absorb all of the impact without suffering massive internal bleeding or you need to be strong/heavy enough and deliver enough PSI to break through the surface which you land on in order to cushion your fall. There is a reason that they instruct martial arts students to punch through the board in order to avoid breaking their wrists. If you are squishy then bullets would deal less damage to you but if you chose the strong route then they would be better off aiming into your rib-cage instead of your skull.
    $endgroup$
    – MonkeyZeus
    Jan 22 at 14:35













  • 12




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    My parent's description of how hard my head was when I was a teen would suggest an age-based mechanism. Welcome to the site! When you get a chance, please take our tour. Thanks!
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    – JBH
    Jan 21 at 1:57






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    Can I be bioaugmented to a weight of 1 kg? I am pretty sure that between that and my (considerable) surface area, terminal velocity would be pretty manageable. Maybe I could even glide around some, flying-squirrel style. I would stay inside when it was windy, or have my sidekick hold some kind of tether.
    $endgroup$
    – Willk
    Jan 21 at 1:58







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    It's not terminal velocity that kills, it's the sudden stop at the end.
    $endgroup$
    – pojo-guy
    Jan 21 at 3:07






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    If they survive, then clearly the velocity wasn't terminal.
    $endgroup$
    – Mark
    Jan 21 at 23:39






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    You would need to either be squishy enough (bones, organs, EVERYTHING) to absorb all of the impact without suffering massive internal bleeding or you need to be strong/heavy enough and deliver enough PSI to break through the surface which you land on in order to cushion your fall. There is a reason that they instruct martial arts students to punch through the board in order to avoid breaking their wrists. If you are squishy then bullets would deal less damage to you but if you chose the strong route then they would be better off aiming into your rib-cage instead of your skull.
    $endgroup$
    – MonkeyZeus
    Jan 22 at 14:35








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My parent's description of how hard my head was when I was a teen would suggest an age-based mechanism. Welcome to the site! When you get a chance, please take our tour. Thanks!
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– JBH
Jan 21 at 1:57




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My parent's description of how hard my head was when I was a teen would suggest an age-based mechanism. Welcome to the site! When you get a chance, please take our tour. Thanks!
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– JBH
Jan 21 at 1:57




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Can I be bioaugmented to a weight of 1 kg? I am pretty sure that between that and my (considerable) surface area, terminal velocity would be pretty manageable. Maybe I could even glide around some, flying-squirrel style. I would stay inside when it was windy, or have my sidekick hold some kind of tether.
$endgroup$
– Willk
Jan 21 at 1:58





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Can I be bioaugmented to a weight of 1 kg? I am pretty sure that between that and my (considerable) surface area, terminal velocity would be pretty manageable. Maybe I could even glide around some, flying-squirrel style. I would stay inside when it was windy, or have my sidekick hold some kind of tether.
$endgroup$
– Willk
Jan 21 at 1:58





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It's not terminal velocity that kills, it's the sudden stop at the end.
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– pojo-guy
Jan 21 at 3:07




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It's not terminal velocity that kills, it's the sudden stop at the end.
$endgroup$
– pojo-guy
Jan 21 at 3:07




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If they survive, then clearly the velocity wasn't terminal.
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– Mark
Jan 21 at 23:39




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If they survive, then clearly the velocity wasn't terminal.
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– Mark
Jan 21 at 23:39




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You would need to either be squishy enough (bones, organs, EVERYTHING) to absorb all of the impact without suffering massive internal bleeding or you need to be strong/heavy enough and deliver enough PSI to break through the surface which you land on in order to cushion your fall. There is a reason that they instruct martial arts students to punch through the board in order to avoid breaking their wrists. If you are squishy then bullets would deal less damage to you but if you chose the strong route then they would be better off aiming into your rib-cage instead of your skull.
$endgroup$
– MonkeyZeus
Jan 22 at 14:35





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You would need to either be squishy enough (bones, organs, EVERYTHING) to absorb all of the impact without suffering massive internal bleeding or you need to be strong/heavy enough and deliver enough PSI to break through the surface which you land on in order to cushion your fall. There is a reason that they instruct martial arts students to punch through the board in order to avoid breaking their wrists. If you are squishy then bullets would deal less damage to you but if you chose the strong route then they would be better off aiming into your rib-cage instead of your skull.
$endgroup$
– MonkeyZeus
Jan 22 at 14:35











7 Answers
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Normal human durability, and a lot of luck



People have survived terminal velocity falls. In 1972, Vesna Vulović fell over 33,330 ft without a parachute after the plane she was in exploded. She didn't exactly walk away from the fall, however. She spent days in a coma, and was hospitalized for months after that. But she did survive.



Vulović is not the only one to survive a fall that should have killed them. They all had varying degrees of injury, so perhaps it's not quite accurate to say that normal human durability is all that's required if you want to walk away afterwards. But the point is that there are a great many factors involved in surviving a fall, and the height and the body's structure are only two of them.



That said, here are some other suggestions of the types of people who would fall well:



Lighter people



From On Being the Right Size by J. B. S. Haldane:




To the mouse and any smaller animal [gravity] presents practically no dangers. You can drop a mouse down a thousand-yard mine shaft; and, on arriving at the bottom, it gets a slight shock and walks away, provided that the ground is fairly soft. A rat is killed, a man is broken, a horse splashes. For the resistance presented to movement by the air is proportional to the surface of the moving object. Divide an animal’s length, breadth, and height each by ten; its weight is reduced to a thousandth, but its surface only to a hundredth. So the resistance to falling in the case of the small animal is relatively ten times greater than the driving force.




Terminal velocity is a function of (among other things) weight. The lighter you are, the lower the velocity at which you hit the ground, and the easier it is for you to survive.



Wider people



Wingsuit flying is a reasonably popular sport where flyers skydive in a suit with "wings" between the arms and body, and between the legs. These jumps typically end with a parachute, but in 2012, Gary Connery landed a 2,400 ft jump without a parachute, landing on a "runway" of cardboard boxes.



Also, having wings gives you more ability to steer towards softer ground, which is always a plus.



The best enhancements for falling durability are not going to make you bulletproof



Bullets kill by piercing - by applying a large amount of force in a small area, they are able to penetrate the protective layers of our bodies and apply that force to the vulnerable parts of our bodies. That's why bulletproof materials function by preventing the piercing effect and distributing the force over a larger area.



That sort of protection is not going to help against a fall, where the entire area of your body is experiencing the massive forces involved. Conversely, the cushioning and strengthening of the enhancements needed to protect against a fall are not going to do much to stop the piercing effects of a bullet.






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    This is a great answer. The only thing I can think to improve would be mentions of how a humanoid could be more resilient to a high-speed impact. Maybe things like faster reflexes to enable better control of impact angle, more cushioning around vital organs (like the brain), and stronger bones, tendons, muscles, and blood vessels. These improvements could allow for good survival odds even with a terminal velocity impact against solid rock. (Severe injury would still be likely in such a situation.)
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    – Kyle A
    Jan 21 at 4:34






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    The tricky thing about stronger bones is that all else being equal they tend to be heavier. So maybe all else is not equal, and they're made of a material that's stronger by weight than mammalian bones.
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    – nasch
    Jan 21 at 5:28






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    In fact, the absolute best you can do is to have thick enough bones and fill them with helium. Or hydrogen, since that one is easier to get.
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    – John Dvorak
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    "They all had varying degrees of injury, so perhaps it's not quite accurate to say that normal human durability is all that's required if you want to walk away afterwards." One of them, Nicholas Alkemade, only suffered a sprained leg. That might make walking away unpleasant, but you can do it.
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    – Ray
    Jan 21 at 21:17







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    Vulović didn't exactly survive a freefall in the strictest sense. She was in the tail section of the plane when it broke up, and the stabilizers on the tail likely slowed the fall, in addition to the body of the plane section protecting her from some of the damage. If she had been falling by herself without the protection of a piece of the plane, she would surely not have survived.
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    – Darrel Hoffman
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Bullet resistance and falling resistance are different from each other. A bullet that impacts some pierce-resistant skin will cause a shockwave to propogate through the body, which will bruise the flesh underneath and potentially cause bloodvessles to break and organs to be damage enough to die off. If you fall from a great height (or are in a carcrash, or have your body accelerated by a car/truck/whatever hitting you), all your organs will suddenly decellerate (or accelerate) and need to be slowed down over as long a distance as possible without ripping the nerves and bloodvessles.



Against bullet, extra fat would help as it would increase the distance the shockwave needs to propagate through before it reaches something vital. Against falling extra fat would mean more velocity for all your organs counteracting the extra distance the organs can now slow down over and increasing the chance the organs will rip out of their place, it's going to kill you faster!



One thing missing in @ArcanistLupus his answer about falling (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_fall#Surviving_falls) is that almost all these falls had something break their fall slightly. They didn't really hit the ground with terminal velocity even though they reached terminal velocity at some point in their fall. It's like saying a parachutist survived a terminal velocity fall when he hit the ground.



This leaves 3 answers:



  • Make the person lighter without making them smaller. How much I can't say, but this will reduce their terminal velocity and increase their chance of survival.


  • Increase the person's surface area. This does mean he's going to need something along the lines of a parachute of surface area somewhere on his body to survive a fall.


  • Redesign their internal organs to have more room for the nerves and bloodvessles to follow the organs during the crash. Additionally the organs would need to be suspended with ligaments to allow them to move more and slow down over a larger distance. Possibly the organs could be molded into a bunch of smaller pieces that will each individually be slowed down. This will likely not be enough alone to help you survive.


  • as a last option: All of the above.


For a few other options check this similar question I made: Creating a scientifically semi-valid super-soldier, part 3: Physical shock resistance






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    On the subject of bullet-resistance. I like to remind people that while you can strap a brick of steel to your chest and technically the bullet won't get through, the impact energy will still be transferred and break your ribs, possibly even kill you. Bullet-proof vests work by spreading the impact energy across your entire torso and allowing it to propagate around you to the backplate of the armour.
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    – Ruadhan
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Cats frequently survives high falls. How durable are cats?



The cat example suggest it is not the durability (because I guess cats are quite similar to humans in this respect) but how you handle the fall. I would imagine an experienced parachute jumper that had trained on landing without parachute would have quite good chances of surviving (but seriously injured).






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    A cat has a lower terminal velocity than a human. Look at this link from Arcanist Lupus for example: irl.cs.ucla.edu/papers/right-size.html. A human who trained on landing without parachute would still shatter his body. The best he could train for is to aim for something relatively soft to break his fall, say a tough and high bush or similar, and then pray for the heavens he lands just perfectly right and the bush is just soft enough but not too soft to cushion his fall without killing him anyway.
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    – Demigan
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    People do jump into water from quite high altitudes without severe injuries. Basically you go from full speed to standstill in a meter when jumping into water so if you exchanged water for the lower part of your body you will crush your legs, hips and so on but the more important upper part of your body will survive (although badly beaten).
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    Jan 21 at 8:47






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    That is pretty different. You dont reach terminal velocity (water acts like concrete when you hit it that fast) and your legs have a different rate of decelleration. Also shattered legs have a tendency to let pieces rip through your body, say the femur ripping off it's head, splintering and jamming that into your intestines. We are talking terminal velocity here, otherwise you might as well say "Hey you can survive if you jump from 10m so jumping from 1000m should be the same!"
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    – Demigan
    Jan 21 at 9:15










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    @Demigan water isn't quite like concrete - but I agree it's still fatal as per Mythbusters youtube.com/watch?v=yGJqqDaKscQ
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    – KerrAvon2055
    Jan 21 at 9:19






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    There are very many highly experienced and trained parachute jumpers around the world. None of them can reliably survive a terminal velocity jump without a parachute.
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    – reirab
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You d have to look like this



This is a simulation of how you would need to be to resist 100mph car crashes. Free fall is essentially the same problem



enter image description here






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    "Free fall is essentially the same problem." No necessarily. Being big helps you in surviving the crash, but it does not help you in free-fall. A bulky rhinoceros has a much slimmer chance of surviving free-fall than a fluffy mouse.
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    – tobias_k
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    I forgot that render existed. Sontaran/Human trans-species hybrids - Just say no!
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    @tobias_k Of course, if you take that rhino's terminal velocity and slam it horizontally into a thick concrete wall at that speed, it also has a slimmer chance of surviving than if you do the same to a fluffy mouse. The biggest differences between a car crash and hitting the ground at terminal velocity are that your car's crumple zones will absorb a lot of the energy and slow you down over a greater distance and that the objects you hit with a car are typically less massive and more prone to compressing and/or moving out of your way than the object you hit at the end of a fall - the Earth.
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    – reirab
    Jan 21 at 21:05







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    Would I need a beard to survive too?
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    – Morgan
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    @reirab the difference is that if you are in a car crash of for example 40km/h, being fatter will help. If you are falling then the extra fat will increase your terminal velocity and cancel out the advantage the Fat, stronger bones etc brings.
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The simple answer is no - the ability to survive a fall in no way implies the ability to shrug off a bullet. The answer provided by Arcanist Lupus is correct, but I think it can be simplified considerably.



What you have to realize is twofold: bullets travel much faster than human terminal velocity, and they provide a much smaller impact area. The two combine to make an enormous difference.



Human terminal velocity is not a precise number, but for adults at sea level it runs from about 120 mph (with the body horizontal) to about 200 mph (with the body vertical), or something like 180 to 300 fps. In fact, the vertical position is more survivable than the horizontal, since the legs provide a shock absorber effect, as well as what is called in automobiles a "crumple zone".



Furthermore, all of the energy dissipated in the landing is done so over the entire cross-sectional area of the body, which for a vertical position will be on the order of one to two square feet.



Bullets, on the other hand, travel roughly 4 to 10 times faster than terminal velocity (1000 fps to 3000 fps, roughly), and have an impact absorption area on the order of 2000 times smaller.



So a bullet, on impacting a body, will simply punch through flesh, and while it will eventually be absorbed, this will not happen until it has done localized damage far in excess of the amount done by a fall.






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    okay so terminal velocity and being bullet proof have nothing to do with each other. the denser you are the more you weigh which increases your inertia. higher density could theoretically make you bullet proof but would increase your inertia, therefore a fall would be likely to be more lethal. higher bone density might help but the impact on organs would be worse. the lighter an object is the less gravity attracts it so the two problems would compound each other. maybe make them bullet proof with technology that helps them fly, or put some really good parachutes on them. (side note most readers would simply accept the being able to fall from heights if they were bullet proof so I would just ignore the lack of explanation on the former)






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      The first thing to know is that fall-proof and bulletproof are largely unrelated. Sure, if you put enough "durability" on anything, you'll get both, but if you want to optimize your modifications, I'd focus on one or the other.



      Optimizing for Bullets



      Bulletproofing is fairly straightforward, as it largely comes down to three basic ideas:



      1. Distributing kinetic energy across a wider area

      2. Absorbing kinetic energy (typically through plastic deformation)

      3. Preventing penetration

      The first and second are reasonably interchangeable, where more capacity to distribute force largely obviates absorption capacity, and vice versa. If you can distribute the force of a bullet from an area less than a square centimeter in size (bullet cross-sectional area) to around 2,000 square centimeters (approximate torso cross-sectional area), you've reduced the kinetic energy applied per unit area by 2,000. If instead, you put a wall of concrete in front of you, that doesn't do much as far as distributing force, but it does wonders at absorbing kinetic energy through plastic deformation.



      Preventing penetration is largely about putting fibrous materials that will "catch" a bullet before they enter the body, and these same types of fibrous materials (Kevlar, for example) tend to do distribution fairly well.



      So some fibers for distribution and prevention, and some ceramics or other plastically deformables for absorption is the typical solution. Note that out of the fibers and deformables, the deformables will help somewhat with fall resistance, but the fibers will not. Which brings us to...



      Optimizing for Falls



      The first question to ask is what it is specifically that typically kills people in high-altitude falls. I'd imagine it's breaking of the spine, and the bones of the ribs being pushed through the organs. What causes both of these problems is the same two issues: things bending like they aren't supposed to, and jerk being applied to the body.



      To stop things from bending, you can include a frame of some sort, either directly to the spine or to a frame outside the body. To stop the jerk is trickier, and comes down to either reducing the force (either absorption like with the bullets or decreasing speed of fall) or slowing down the impact (think a giant pillow, gently bringing you to rest upon impact). Here you have a few options:



      1. Add means of drag or decrease weight to decrease terminal velocity, for example, wings or a parachute

      2. Add plastically deformables (see bullet section for more on this) to absorb the force of an impact

      3. Add cushioning to slow an impact

      Here your creativity is the limit. Plenty of real-life creatures can survive the force of an impact at terminal velocity. For example, most insects cannot be killed by falls from any height, because as you scale down objects, they tend to handle impacts far better. A human-sized ant would be only slightly more fall-proof than a human-sized human. So small size is your friend.



      You can also add something like a biological parachute or wing, which can slow you down just before landing. Of course, this isn't as "cool" to a reader as an enhanced human who manages superhero landings.



      Another interesting option is crumple zones, areas of your enhanced human specifically designed to smash, absorbing the force of the landing, perhaps quickly healing/regrowing after smashing. You can also try to capture the kinetic energy of the landing, with some electromagnetic damping or something similar "capturing" the force and generating electricity, glucose, fuel, or something else that can be used later.



      Finally, cushioning. This one is tricky, because generally you need a lot of it. Crash pads for bouldering (low-altitude rock climbing) are typically around 13cm (5in) thick, and that's just for heights below 6m (20ft). From that height, you'd only be able to reach around 33km/h (20mph) at maximum, disregarding air resistance, well below the estimated 195km/h (122mph) terminal velocity of a skydiver. Basic physics dictates that kinetic energy, the real problem with falling, grows with the square of velocity. This means that if a 13cm (5in) mat can handle a fall at 33km/h (20mph), a fall of 195km/h (122mph) will pack not 6 times the punch, but 36 times the punch. If required mat thickness scales linearly with velocity (which it doesn't, it's probably even worse than that, so this is probably a best-case scenario), that means you'd need 78cm (31in) of pad to take an impact at terminal velocity. Again, this is only a best-case scenario, so you'd likely need much more than that, and 78cm (31in) is already a fairly prohibitively large amount of padding to add to your enhanced humans.



      Conclusion



      If you want to stop bullets, add fibers and plastically deformables. If you want to stop falls, slow down the fall, add plastically deformables, or slow down the impact with biological padding. Let me know what you come up with! As far as creativity goes, the sky's the limit. Then again, that's sort of the point :)






      share|improve this answer









      $endgroup$












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        7 Answers
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        7 Answers
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        active

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        70












        $begingroup$

        Normal human durability, and a lot of luck



        People have survived terminal velocity falls. In 1972, Vesna Vulović fell over 33,330 ft without a parachute after the plane she was in exploded. She didn't exactly walk away from the fall, however. She spent days in a coma, and was hospitalized for months after that. But she did survive.



        Vulović is not the only one to survive a fall that should have killed them. They all had varying degrees of injury, so perhaps it's not quite accurate to say that normal human durability is all that's required if you want to walk away afterwards. But the point is that there are a great many factors involved in surviving a fall, and the height and the body's structure are only two of them.



        That said, here are some other suggestions of the types of people who would fall well:



        Lighter people



        From On Being the Right Size by J. B. S. Haldane:




        To the mouse and any smaller animal [gravity] presents practically no dangers. You can drop a mouse down a thousand-yard mine shaft; and, on arriving at the bottom, it gets a slight shock and walks away, provided that the ground is fairly soft. A rat is killed, a man is broken, a horse splashes. For the resistance presented to movement by the air is proportional to the surface of the moving object. Divide an animal’s length, breadth, and height each by ten; its weight is reduced to a thousandth, but its surface only to a hundredth. So the resistance to falling in the case of the small animal is relatively ten times greater than the driving force.




        Terminal velocity is a function of (among other things) weight. The lighter you are, the lower the velocity at which you hit the ground, and the easier it is for you to survive.



        Wider people



        Wingsuit flying is a reasonably popular sport where flyers skydive in a suit with "wings" between the arms and body, and between the legs. These jumps typically end with a parachute, but in 2012, Gary Connery landed a 2,400 ft jump without a parachute, landing on a "runway" of cardboard boxes.



        Also, having wings gives you more ability to steer towards softer ground, which is always a plus.



        The best enhancements for falling durability are not going to make you bulletproof



        Bullets kill by piercing - by applying a large amount of force in a small area, they are able to penetrate the protective layers of our bodies and apply that force to the vulnerable parts of our bodies. That's why bulletproof materials function by preventing the piercing effect and distributing the force over a larger area.



        That sort of protection is not going to help against a fall, where the entire area of your body is experiencing the massive forces involved. Conversely, the cushioning and strengthening of the enhancements needed to protect against a fall are not going to do much to stop the piercing effects of a bullet.






        share|improve this answer











        $endgroup$








        • 3




          $begingroup$
          This is a great answer. The only thing I can think to improve would be mentions of how a humanoid could be more resilient to a high-speed impact. Maybe things like faster reflexes to enable better control of impact angle, more cushioning around vital organs (like the brain), and stronger bones, tendons, muscles, and blood vessels. These improvements could allow for good survival odds even with a terminal velocity impact against solid rock. (Severe injury would still be likely in such a situation.)
          $endgroup$
          – Kyle A
          Jan 21 at 4:34






        • 1




          $begingroup$
          The tricky thing about stronger bones is that all else being equal they tend to be heavier. So maybe all else is not equal, and they're made of a material that's stronger by weight than mammalian bones.
          $endgroup$
          – nasch
          Jan 21 at 5:28






        • 2




          $begingroup$
          In fact, the absolute best you can do is to have thick enough bones and fill them with helium. Or hydrogen, since that one is easier to get.
          $endgroup$
          – John Dvorak
          Jan 21 at 6:10






        • 4




          $begingroup$
          "They all had varying degrees of injury, so perhaps it's not quite accurate to say that normal human durability is all that's required if you want to walk away afterwards." One of them, Nicholas Alkemade, only suffered a sprained leg. That might make walking away unpleasant, but you can do it.
          $endgroup$
          – Ray
          Jan 21 at 21:17







        • 1




          $begingroup$
          Vulović didn't exactly survive a freefall in the strictest sense. She was in the tail section of the plane when it broke up, and the stabilizers on the tail likely slowed the fall, in addition to the body of the plane section protecting her from some of the damage. If she had been falling by herself without the protection of a piece of the plane, she would surely not have survived.
          $endgroup$
          – Darrel Hoffman
          Jan 22 at 17:41















        70












        $begingroup$

        Normal human durability, and a lot of luck



        People have survived terminal velocity falls. In 1972, Vesna Vulović fell over 33,330 ft without a parachute after the plane she was in exploded. She didn't exactly walk away from the fall, however. She spent days in a coma, and was hospitalized for months after that. But she did survive.



        Vulović is not the only one to survive a fall that should have killed them. They all had varying degrees of injury, so perhaps it's not quite accurate to say that normal human durability is all that's required if you want to walk away afterwards. But the point is that there are a great many factors involved in surviving a fall, and the height and the body's structure are only two of them.



        That said, here are some other suggestions of the types of people who would fall well:



        Lighter people



        From On Being the Right Size by J. B. S. Haldane:




        To the mouse and any smaller animal [gravity] presents practically no dangers. You can drop a mouse down a thousand-yard mine shaft; and, on arriving at the bottom, it gets a slight shock and walks away, provided that the ground is fairly soft. A rat is killed, a man is broken, a horse splashes. For the resistance presented to movement by the air is proportional to the surface of the moving object. Divide an animal’s length, breadth, and height each by ten; its weight is reduced to a thousandth, but its surface only to a hundredth. So the resistance to falling in the case of the small animal is relatively ten times greater than the driving force.




        Terminal velocity is a function of (among other things) weight. The lighter you are, the lower the velocity at which you hit the ground, and the easier it is for you to survive.



        Wider people



        Wingsuit flying is a reasonably popular sport where flyers skydive in a suit with "wings" between the arms and body, and between the legs. These jumps typically end with a parachute, but in 2012, Gary Connery landed a 2,400 ft jump without a parachute, landing on a "runway" of cardboard boxes.



        Also, having wings gives you more ability to steer towards softer ground, which is always a plus.



        The best enhancements for falling durability are not going to make you bulletproof



        Bullets kill by piercing - by applying a large amount of force in a small area, they are able to penetrate the protective layers of our bodies and apply that force to the vulnerable parts of our bodies. That's why bulletproof materials function by preventing the piercing effect and distributing the force over a larger area.



        That sort of protection is not going to help against a fall, where the entire area of your body is experiencing the massive forces involved. Conversely, the cushioning and strengthening of the enhancements needed to protect against a fall are not going to do much to stop the piercing effects of a bullet.






        share|improve this answer











        $endgroup$








        • 3




          $begingroup$
          This is a great answer. The only thing I can think to improve would be mentions of how a humanoid could be more resilient to a high-speed impact. Maybe things like faster reflexes to enable better control of impact angle, more cushioning around vital organs (like the brain), and stronger bones, tendons, muscles, and blood vessels. These improvements could allow for good survival odds even with a terminal velocity impact against solid rock. (Severe injury would still be likely in such a situation.)
          $endgroup$
          – Kyle A
          Jan 21 at 4:34






        • 1




          $begingroup$
          The tricky thing about stronger bones is that all else being equal they tend to be heavier. So maybe all else is not equal, and they're made of a material that's stronger by weight than mammalian bones.
          $endgroup$
          – nasch
          Jan 21 at 5:28






        • 2




          $begingroup$
          In fact, the absolute best you can do is to have thick enough bones and fill them with helium. Or hydrogen, since that one is easier to get.
          $endgroup$
          – John Dvorak
          Jan 21 at 6:10






        • 4




          $begingroup$
          "They all had varying degrees of injury, so perhaps it's not quite accurate to say that normal human durability is all that's required if you want to walk away afterwards." One of them, Nicholas Alkemade, only suffered a sprained leg. That might make walking away unpleasant, but you can do it.
          $endgroup$
          – Ray
          Jan 21 at 21:17







        • 1




          $begingroup$
          Vulović didn't exactly survive a freefall in the strictest sense. She was in the tail section of the plane when it broke up, and the stabilizers on the tail likely slowed the fall, in addition to the body of the plane section protecting her from some of the damage. If she had been falling by herself without the protection of a piece of the plane, she would surely not have survived.
          $endgroup$
          – Darrel Hoffman
          Jan 22 at 17:41













        70












        70








        70





        $begingroup$

        Normal human durability, and a lot of luck



        People have survived terminal velocity falls. In 1972, Vesna Vulović fell over 33,330 ft without a parachute after the plane she was in exploded. She didn't exactly walk away from the fall, however. She spent days in a coma, and was hospitalized for months after that. But she did survive.



        Vulović is not the only one to survive a fall that should have killed them. They all had varying degrees of injury, so perhaps it's not quite accurate to say that normal human durability is all that's required if you want to walk away afterwards. But the point is that there are a great many factors involved in surviving a fall, and the height and the body's structure are only two of them.



        That said, here are some other suggestions of the types of people who would fall well:



        Lighter people



        From On Being the Right Size by J. B. S. Haldane:




        To the mouse and any smaller animal [gravity] presents practically no dangers. You can drop a mouse down a thousand-yard mine shaft; and, on arriving at the bottom, it gets a slight shock and walks away, provided that the ground is fairly soft. A rat is killed, a man is broken, a horse splashes. For the resistance presented to movement by the air is proportional to the surface of the moving object. Divide an animal’s length, breadth, and height each by ten; its weight is reduced to a thousandth, but its surface only to a hundredth. So the resistance to falling in the case of the small animal is relatively ten times greater than the driving force.




        Terminal velocity is a function of (among other things) weight. The lighter you are, the lower the velocity at which you hit the ground, and the easier it is for you to survive.



        Wider people



        Wingsuit flying is a reasonably popular sport where flyers skydive in a suit with "wings" between the arms and body, and between the legs. These jumps typically end with a parachute, but in 2012, Gary Connery landed a 2,400 ft jump without a parachute, landing on a "runway" of cardboard boxes.



        Also, having wings gives you more ability to steer towards softer ground, which is always a plus.



        The best enhancements for falling durability are not going to make you bulletproof



        Bullets kill by piercing - by applying a large amount of force in a small area, they are able to penetrate the protective layers of our bodies and apply that force to the vulnerable parts of our bodies. That's why bulletproof materials function by preventing the piercing effect and distributing the force over a larger area.



        That sort of protection is not going to help against a fall, where the entire area of your body is experiencing the massive forces involved. Conversely, the cushioning and strengthening of the enhancements needed to protect against a fall are not going to do much to stop the piercing effects of a bullet.






        share|improve this answer











        $endgroup$



        Normal human durability, and a lot of luck



        People have survived terminal velocity falls. In 1972, Vesna Vulović fell over 33,330 ft without a parachute after the plane she was in exploded. She didn't exactly walk away from the fall, however. She spent days in a coma, and was hospitalized for months after that. But she did survive.



        Vulović is not the only one to survive a fall that should have killed them. They all had varying degrees of injury, so perhaps it's not quite accurate to say that normal human durability is all that's required if you want to walk away afterwards. But the point is that there are a great many factors involved in surviving a fall, and the height and the body's structure are only two of them.



        That said, here are some other suggestions of the types of people who would fall well:



        Lighter people



        From On Being the Right Size by J. B. S. Haldane:




        To the mouse and any smaller animal [gravity] presents practically no dangers. You can drop a mouse down a thousand-yard mine shaft; and, on arriving at the bottom, it gets a slight shock and walks away, provided that the ground is fairly soft. A rat is killed, a man is broken, a horse splashes. For the resistance presented to movement by the air is proportional to the surface of the moving object. Divide an animal’s length, breadth, and height each by ten; its weight is reduced to a thousandth, but its surface only to a hundredth. So the resistance to falling in the case of the small animal is relatively ten times greater than the driving force.




        Terminal velocity is a function of (among other things) weight. The lighter you are, the lower the velocity at which you hit the ground, and the easier it is for you to survive.



        Wider people



        Wingsuit flying is a reasonably popular sport where flyers skydive in a suit with "wings" between the arms and body, and between the legs. These jumps typically end with a parachute, but in 2012, Gary Connery landed a 2,400 ft jump without a parachute, landing on a "runway" of cardboard boxes.



        Also, having wings gives you more ability to steer towards softer ground, which is always a plus.



        The best enhancements for falling durability are not going to make you bulletproof



        Bullets kill by piercing - by applying a large amount of force in a small area, they are able to penetrate the protective layers of our bodies and apply that force to the vulnerable parts of our bodies. That's why bulletproof materials function by preventing the piercing effect and distributing the force over a larger area.



        That sort of protection is not going to help against a fall, where the entire area of your body is experiencing the massive forces involved. Conversely, the cushioning and strengthening of the enhancements needed to protect against a fall are not going to do much to stop the piercing effects of a bullet.







        share|improve this answer














        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer








        edited Jan 21 at 6:04

























        answered Jan 21 at 2:29









        Arcanist LupusArcanist Lupus

        4,5441521




        4,5441521







        • 3




          $begingroup$
          This is a great answer. The only thing I can think to improve would be mentions of how a humanoid could be more resilient to a high-speed impact. Maybe things like faster reflexes to enable better control of impact angle, more cushioning around vital organs (like the brain), and stronger bones, tendons, muscles, and blood vessels. These improvements could allow for good survival odds even with a terminal velocity impact against solid rock. (Severe injury would still be likely in such a situation.)
          $endgroup$
          – Kyle A
          Jan 21 at 4:34






        • 1




          $begingroup$
          The tricky thing about stronger bones is that all else being equal they tend to be heavier. So maybe all else is not equal, and they're made of a material that's stronger by weight than mammalian bones.
          $endgroup$
          – nasch
          Jan 21 at 5:28






        • 2




          $begingroup$
          In fact, the absolute best you can do is to have thick enough bones and fill them with helium. Or hydrogen, since that one is easier to get.
          $endgroup$
          – John Dvorak
          Jan 21 at 6:10






        • 4




          $begingroup$
          "They all had varying degrees of injury, so perhaps it's not quite accurate to say that normal human durability is all that's required if you want to walk away afterwards." One of them, Nicholas Alkemade, only suffered a sprained leg. That might make walking away unpleasant, but you can do it.
          $endgroup$
          – Ray
          Jan 21 at 21:17







        • 1




          $begingroup$
          Vulović didn't exactly survive a freefall in the strictest sense. She was in the tail section of the plane when it broke up, and the stabilizers on the tail likely slowed the fall, in addition to the body of the plane section protecting her from some of the damage. If she had been falling by herself without the protection of a piece of the plane, she would surely not have survived.
          $endgroup$
          – Darrel Hoffman
          Jan 22 at 17:41












        • 3




          $begingroup$
          This is a great answer. The only thing I can think to improve would be mentions of how a humanoid could be more resilient to a high-speed impact. Maybe things like faster reflexes to enable better control of impact angle, more cushioning around vital organs (like the brain), and stronger bones, tendons, muscles, and blood vessels. These improvements could allow for good survival odds even with a terminal velocity impact against solid rock. (Severe injury would still be likely in such a situation.)
          $endgroup$
          – Kyle A
          Jan 21 at 4:34






        • 1




          $begingroup$
          The tricky thing about stronger bones is that all else being equal they tend to be heavier. So maybe all else is not equal, and they're made of a material that's stronger by weight than mammalian bones.
          $endgroup$
          – nasch
          Jan 21 at 5:28






        • 2




          $begingroup$
          In fact, the absolute best you can do is to have thick enough bones and fill them with helium. Or hydrogen, since that one is easier to get.
          $endgroup$
          – John Dvorak
          Jan 21 at 6:10






        • 4




          $begingroup$
          "They all had varying degrees of injury, so perhaps it's not quite accurate to say that normal human durability is all that's required if you want to walk away afterwards." One of them, Nicholas Alkemade, only suffered a sprained leg. That might make walking away unpleasant, but you can do it.
          $endgroup$
          – Ray
          Jan 21 at 21:17







        • 1




          $begingroup$
          Vulović didn't exactly survive a freefall in the strictest sense. She was in the tail section of the plane when it broke up, and the stabilizers on the tail likely slowed the fall, in addition to the body of the plane section protecting her from some of the damage. If she had been falling by herself without the protection of a piece of the plane, she would surely not have survived.
          $endgroup$
          – Darrel Hoffman
          Jan 22 at 17:41







        3




        3




        $begingroup$
        This is a great answer. The only thing I can think to improve would be mentions of how a humanoid could be more resilient to a high-speed impact. Maybe things like faster reflexes to enable better control of impact angle, more cushioning around vital organs (like the brain), and stronger bones, tendons, muscles, and blood vessels. These improvements could allow for good survival odds even with a terminal velocity impact against solid rock. (Severe injury would still be likely in such a situation.)
        $endgroup$
        – Kyle A
        Jan 21 at 4:34




        $begingroup$
        This is a great answer. The only thing I can think to improve would be mentions of how a humanoid could be more resilient to a high-speed impact. Maybe things like faster reflexes to enable better control of impact angle, more cushioning around vital organs (like the brain), and stronger bones, tendons, muscles, and blood vessels. These improvements could allow for good survival odds even with a terminal velocity impact against solid rock. (Severe injury would still be likely in such a situation.)
        $endgroup$
        – Kyle A
        Jan 21 at 4:34




        1




        1




        $begingroup$
        The tricky thing about stronger bones is that all else being equal they tend to be heavier. So maybe all else is not equal, and they're made of a material that's stronger by weight than mammalian bones.
        $endgroup$
        – nasch
        Jan 21 at 5:28




        $begingroup$
        The tricky thing about stronger bones is that all else being equal they tend to be heavier. So maybe all else is not equal, and they're made of a material that's stronger by weight than mammalian bones.
        $endgroup$
        – nasch
        Jan 21 at 5:28




        2




        2




        $begingroup$
        In fact, the absolute best you can do is to have thick enough bones and fill them with helium. Or hydrogen, since that one is easier to get.
        $endgroup$
        – John Dvorak
        Jan 21 at 6:10




        $begingroup$
        In fact, the absolute best you can do is to have thick enough bones and fill them with helium. Or hydrogen, since that one is easier to get.
        $endgroup$
        – John Dvorak
        Jan 21 at 6:10




        4




        4




        $begingroup$
        "They all had varying degrees of injury, so perhaps it's not quite accurate to say that normal human durability is all that's required if you want to walk away afterwards." One of them, Nicholas Alkemade, only suffered a sprained leg. That might make walking away unpleasant, but you can do it.
        $endgroup$
        – Ray
        Jan 21 at 21:17





        $begingroup$
        "They all had varying degrees of injury, so perhaps it's not quite accurate to say that normal human durability is all that's required if you want to walk away afterwards." One of them, Nicholas Alkemade, only suffered a sprained leg. That might make walking away unpleasant, but you can do it.
        $endgroup$
        – Ray
        Jan 21 at 21:17





        1




        1




        $begingroup$
        Vulović didn't exactly survive a freefall in the strictest sense. She was in the tail section of the plane when it broke up, and the stabilizers on the tail likely slowed the fall, in addition to the body of the plane section protecting her from some of the damage. If she had been falling by herself without the protection of a piece of the plane, she would surely not have survived.
        $endgroup$
        – Darrel Hoffman
        Jan 22 at 17:41




        $begingroup$
        Vulović didn't exactly survive a freefall in the strictest sense. She was in the tail section of the plane when it broke up, and the stabilizers on the tail likely slowed the fall, in addition to the body of the plane section protecting her from some of the damage. If she had been falling by herself without the protection of a piece of the plane, she would surely not have survived.
        $endgroup$
        – Darrel Hoffman
        Jan 22 at 17:41











        7












        $begingroup$

        Bullet resistance and falling resistance are different from each other. A bullet that impacts some pierce-resistant skin will cause a shockwave to propogate through the body, which will bruise the flesh underneath and potentially cause bloodvessles to break and organs to be damage enough to die off. If you fall from a great height (or are in a carcrash, or have your body accelerated by a car/truck/whatever hitting you), all your organs will suddenly decellerate (or accelerate) and need to be slowed down over as long a distance as possible without ripping the nerves and bloodvessles.



        Against bullet, extra fat would help as it would increase the distance the shockwave needs to propagate through before it reaches something vital. Against falling extra fat would mean more velocity for all your organs counteracting the extra distance the organs can now slow down over and increasing the chance the organs will rip out of their place, it's going to kill you faster!



        One thing missing in @ArcanistLupus his answer about falling (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_fall#Surviving_falls) is that almost all these falls had something break their fall slightly. They didn't really hit the ground with terminal velocity even though they reached terminal velocity at some point in their fall. It's like saying a parachutist survived a terminal velocity fall when he hit the ground.



        This leaves 3 answers:



        • Make the person lighter without making them smaller. How much I can't say, but this will reduce their terminal velocity and increase their chance of survival.


        • Increase the person's surface area. This does mean he's going to need something along the lines of a parachute of surface area somewhere on his body to survive a fall.


        • Redesign their internal organs to have more room for the nerves and bloodvessles to follow the organs during the crash. Additionally the organs would need to be suspended with ligaments to allow them to move more and slow down over a larger distance. Possibly the organs could be molded into a bunch of smaller pieces that will each individually be slowed down. This will likely not be enough alone to help you survive.


        • as a last option: All of the above.


        For a few other options check this similar question I made: Creating a scientifically semi-valid super-soldier, part 3: Physical shock resistance






        share|improve this answer









        $endgroup$








        • 2




          $begingroup$
          On the subject of bullet-resistance. I like to remind people that while you can strap a brick of steel to your chest and technically the bullet won't get through, the impact energy will still be transferred and break your ribs, possibly even kill you. Bullet-proof vests work by spreading the impact energy across your entire torso and allowing it to propagate around you to the backplate of the armour.
          $endgroup$
          – Ruadhan
          Jan 21 at 15:04















        7












        $begingroup$

        Bullet resistance and falling resistance are different from each other. A bullet that impacts some pierce-resistant skin will cause a shockwave to propogate through the body, which will bruise the flesh underneath and potentially cause bloodvessles to break and organs to be damage enough to die off. If you fall from a great height (or are in a carcrash, or have your body accelerated by a car/truck/whatever hitting you), all your organs will suddenly decellerate (or accelerate) and need to be slowed down over as long a distance as possible without ripping the nerves and bloodvessles.



        Against bullet, extra fat would help as it would increase the distance the shockwave needs to propagate through before it reaches something vital. Against falling extra fat would mean more velocity for all your organs counteracting the extra distance the organs can now slow down over and increasing the chance the organs will rip out of their place, it's going to kill you faster!



        One thing missing in @ArcanistLupus his answer about falling (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_fall#Surviving_falls) is that almost all these falls had something break their fall slightly. They didn't really hit the ground with terminal velocity even though they reached terminal velocity at some point in their fall. It's like saying a parachutist survived a terminal velocity fall when he hit the ground.



        This leaves 3 answers:



        • Make the person lighter without making them smaller. How much I can't say, but this will reduce their terminal velocity and increase their chance of survival.


        • Increase the person's surface area. This does mean he's going to need something along the lines of a parachute of surface area somewhere on his body to survive a fall.


        • Redesign their internal organs to have more room for the nerves and bloodvessles to follow the organs during the crash. Additionally the organs would need to be suspended with ligaments to allow them to move more and slow down over a larger distance. Possibly the organs could be molded into a bunch of smaller pieces that will each individually be slowed down. This will likely not be enough alone to help you survive.


        • as a last option: All of the above.


        For a few other options check this similar question I made: Creating a scientifically semi-valid super-soldier, part 3: Physical shock resistance






        share|improve this answer









        $endgroup$








        • 2




          $begingroup$
          On the subject of bullet-resistance. I like to remind people that while you can strap a brick of steel to your chest and technically the bullet won't get through, the impact energy will still be transferred and break your ribs, possibly even kill you. Bullet-proof vests work by spreading the impact energy across your entire torso and allowing it to propagate around you to the backplate of the armour.
          $endgroup$
          – Ruadhan
          Jan 21 at 15:04













        7












        7








        7





        $begingroup$

        Bullet resistance and falling resistance are different from each other. A bullet that impacts some pierce-resistant skin will cause a shockwave to propogate through the body, which will bruise the flesh underneath and potentially cause bloodvessles to break and organs to be damage enough to die off. If you fall from a great height (or are in a carcrash, or have your body accelerated by a car/truck/whatever hitting you), all your organs will suddenly decellerate (or accelerate) and need to be slowed down over as long a distance as possible without ripping the nerves and bloodvessles.



        Against bullet, extra fat would help as it would increase the distance the shockwave needs to propagate through before it reaches something vital. Against falling extra fat would mean more velocity for all your organs counteracting the extra distance the organs can now slow down over and increasing the chance the organs will rip out of their place, it's going to kill you faster!



        One thing missing in @ArcanistLupus his answer about falling (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_fall#Surviving_falls) is that almost all these falls had something break their fall slightly. They didn't really hit the ground with terminal velocity even though they reached terminal velocity at some point in their fall. It's like saying a parachutist survived a terminal velocity fall when he hit the ground.



        This leaves 3 answers:



        • Make the person lighter without making them smaller. How much I can't say, but this will reduce their terminal velocity and increase their chance of survival.


        • Increase the person's surface area. This does mean he's going to need something along the lines of a parachute of surface area somewhere on his body to survive a fall.


        • Redesign their internal organs to have more room for the nerves and bloodvessles to follow the organs during the crash. Additionally the organs would need to be suspended with ligaments to allow them to move more and slow down over a larger distance. Possibly the organs could be molded into a bunch of smaller pieces that will each individually be slowed down. This will likely not be enough alone to help you survive.


        • as a last option: All of the above.


        For a few other options check this similar question I made: Creating a scientifically semi-valid super-soldier, part 3: Physical shock resistance






        share|improve this answer









        $endgroup$



        Bullet resistance and falling resistance are different from each other. A bullet that impacts some pierce-resistant skin will cause a shockwave to propogate through the body, which will bruise the flesh underneath and potentially cause bloodvessles to break and organs to be damage enough to die off. If you fall from a great height (or are in a carcrash, or have your body accelerated by a car/truck/whatever hitting you), all your organs will suddenly decellerate (or accelerate) and need to be slowed down over as long a distance as possible without ripping the nerves and bloodvessles.



        Against bullet, extra fat would help as it would increase the distance the shockwave needs to propagate through before it reaches something vital. Against falling extra fat would mean more velocity for all your organs counteracting the extra distance the organs can now slow down over and increasing the chance the organs will rip out of their place, it's going to kill you faster!



        One thing missing in @ArcanistLupus his answer about falling (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_fall#Surviving_falls) is that almost all these falls had something break their fall slightly. They didn't really hit the ground with terminal velocity even though they reached terminal velocity at some point in their fall. It's like saying a parachutist survived a terminal velocity fall when he hit the ground.



        This leaves 3 answers:



        • Make the person lighter without making them smaller. How much I can't say, but this will reduce their terminal velocity and increase their chance of survival.


        • Increase the person's surface area. This does mean he's going to need something along the lines of a parachute of surface area somewhere on his body to survive a fall.


        • Redesign their internal organs to have more room for the nerves and bloodvessles to follow the organs during the crash. Additionally the organs would need to be suspended with ligaments to allow them to move more and slow down over a larger distance. Possibly the organs could be molded into a bunch of smaller pieces that will each individually be slowed down. This will likely not be enough alone to help you survive.


        • as a last option: All of the above.


        For a few other options check this similar question I made: Creating a scientifically semi-valid super-soldier, part 3: Physical shock resistance







        share|improve this answer












        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer










        answered Jan 21 at 7:32









        DemiganDemigan

        8,7311844




        8,7311844







        • 2




          $begingroup$
          On the subject of bullet-resistance. I like to remind people that while you can strap a brick of steel to your chest and technically the bullet won't get through, the impact energy will still be transferred and break your ribs, possibly even kill you. Bullet-proof vests work by spreading the impact energy across your entire torso and allowing it to propagate around you to the backplate of the armour.
          $endgroup$
          – Ruadhan
          Jan 21 at 15:04












        • 2




          $begingroup$
          On the subject of bullet-resistance. I like to remind people that while you can strap a brick of steel to your chest and technically the bullet won't get through, the impact energy will still be transferred and break your ribs, possibly even kill you. Bullet-proof vests work by spreading the impact energy across your entire torso and allowing it to propagate around you to the backplate of the armour.
          $endgroup$
          – Ruadhan
          Jan 21 at 15:04







        2




        2




        $begingroup$
        On the subject of bullet-resistance. I like to remind people that while you can strap a brick of steel to your chest and technically the bullet won't get through, the impact energy will still be transferred and break your ribs, possibly even kill you. Bullet-proof vests work by spreading the impact energy across your entire torso and allowing it to propagate around you to the backplate of the armour.
        $endgroup$
        – Ruadhan
        Jan 21 at 15:04




        $begingroup$
        On the subject of bullet-resistance. I like to remind people that while you can strap a brick of steel to your chest and technically the bullet won't get through, the impact energy will still be transferred and break your ribs, possibly even kill you. Bullet-proof vests work by spreading the impact energy across your entire torso and allowing it to propagate around you to the backplate of the armour.
        $endgroup$
        – Ruadhan
        Jan 21 at 15:04











        2












        $begingroup$

        Cats frequently survives high falls. How durable are cats?



        The cat example suggest it is not the durability (because I guess cats are quite similar to humans in this respect) but how you handle the fall. I would imagine an experienced parachute jumper that had trained on landing without parachute would have quite good chances of surviving (but seriously injured).






        share|improve this answer









        $endgroup$








        • 4




          $begingroup$
          A cat has a lower terminal velocity than a human. Look at this link from Arcanist Lupus for example: irl.cs.ucla.edu/papers/right-size.html. A human who trained on landing without parachute would still shatter his body. The best he could train for is to aim for something relatively soft to break his fall, say a tough and high bush or similar, and then pray for the heavens he lands just perfectly right and the bush is just soft enough but not too soft to cushion his fall without killing him anyway.
          $endgroup$
          – Demigan
          Jan 21 at 8:33











        • $begingroup$
          People do jump into water from quite high altitudes without severe injuries. Basically you go from full speed to standstill in a meter when jumping into water so if you exchanged water for the lower part of your body you will crush your legs, hips and so on but the more important upper part of your body will survive (although badly beaten).
          $endgroup$
          – EmLi
          Jan 21 at 8:47






        • 1




          $begingroup$
          That is pretty different. You dont reach terminal velocity (water acts like concrete when you hit it that fast) and your legs have a different rate of decelleration. Also shattered legs have a tendency to let pieces rip through your body, say the femur ripping off it's head, splintering and jamming that into your intestines. We are talking terminal velocity here, otherwise you might as well say "Hey you can survive if you jump from 10m so jumping from 1000m should be the same!"
          $endgroup$
          – Demigan
          Jan 21 at 9:15










        • $begingroup$
          @Demigan water isn't quite like concrete - but I agree it's still fatal as per Mythbusters youtube.com/watch?v=yGJqqDaKscQ
          $endgroup$
          – KerrAvon2055
          Jan 21 at 9:19






        • 2




          $begingroup$
          There are very many highly experienced and trained parachute jumpers around the world. None of them can reliably survive a terminal velocity jump without a parachute.
          $endgroup$
          – reirab
          Jan 21 at 21:14















        2












        $begingroup$

        Cats frequently survives high falls. How durable are cats?



        The cat example suggest it is not the durability (because I guess cats are quite similar to humans in this respect) but how you handle the fall. I would imagine an experienced parachute jumper that had trained on landing without parachute would have quite good chances of surviving (but seriously injured).






        share|improve this answer









        $endgroup$








        • 4




          $begingroup$
          A cat has a lower terminal velocity than a human. Look at this link from Arcanist Lupus for example: irl.cs.ucla.edu/papers/right-size.html. A human who trained on landing without parachute would still shatter his body. The best he could train for is to aim for something relatively soft to break his fall, say a tough and high bush or similar, and then pray for the heavens he lands just perfectly right and the bush is just soft enough but not too soft to cushion his fall without killing him anyway.
          $endgroup$
          – Demigan
          Jan 21 at 8:33











        • $begingroup$
          People do jump into water from quite high altitudes without severe injuries. Basically you go from full speed to standstill in a meter when jumping into water so if you exchanged water for the lower part of your body you will crush your legs, hips and so on but the more important upper part of your body will survive (although badly beaten).
          $endgroup$
          – EmLi
          Jan 21 at 8:47






        • 1




          $begingroup$
          That is pretty different. You dont reach terminal velocity (water acts like concrete when you hit it that fast) and your legs have a different rate of decelleration. Also shattered legs have a tendency to let pieces rip through your body, say the femur ripping off it's head, splintering and jamming that into your intestines. We are talking terminal velocity here, otherwise you might as well say "Hey you can survive if you jump from 10m so jumping from 1000m should be the same!"
          $endgroup$
          – Demigan
          Jan 21 at 9:15










        • $begingroup$
          @Demigan water isn't quite like concrete - but I agree it's still fatal as per Mythbusters youtube.com/watch?v=yGJqqDaKscQ
          $endgroup$
          – KerrAvon2055
          Jan 21 at 9:19






        • 2




          $begingroup$
          There are very many highly experienced and trained parachute jumpers around the world. None of them can reliably survive a terminal velocity jump without a parachute.
          $endgroup$
          – reirab
          Jan 21 at 21:14













        2












        2








        2





        $begingroup$

        Cats frequently survives high falls. How durable are cats?



        The cat example suggest it is not the durability (because I guess cats are quite similar to humans in this respect) but how you handle the fall. I would imagine an experienced parachute jumper that had trained on landing without parachute would have quite good chances of surviving (but seriously injured).






        share|improve this answer









        $endgroup$



        Cats frequently survives high falls. How durable are cats?



        The cat example suggest it is not the durability (because I guess cats are quite similar to humans in this respect) but how you handle the fall. I would imagine an experienced parachute jumper that had trained on landing without parachute would have quite good chances of surviving (but seriously injured).







        share|improve this answer












        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer










        answered Jan 21 at 8:18









        EmLiEmLi

        311




        311







        • 4




          $begingroup$
          A cat has a lower terminal velocity than a human. Look at this link from Arcanist Lupus for example: irl.cs.ucla.edu/papers/right-size.html. A human who trained on landing without parachute would still shatter his body. The best he could train for is to aim for something relatively soft to break his fall, say a tough and high bush or similar, and then pray for the heavens he lands just perfectly right and the bush is just soft enough but not too soft to cushion his fall without killing him anyway.
          $endgroup$
          – Demigan
          Jan 21 at 8:33











        • $begingroup$
          People do jump into water from quite high altitudes without severe injuries. Basically you go from full speed to standstill in a meter when jumping into water so if you exchanged water for the lower part of your body you will crush your legs, hips and so on but the more important upper part of your body will survive (although badly beaten).
          $endgroup$
          – EmLi
          Jan 21 at 8:47






        • 1




          $begingroup$
          That is pretty different. You dont reach terminal velocity (water acts like concrete when you hit it that fast) and your legs have a different rate of decelleration. Also shattered legs have a tendency to let pieces rip through your body, say the femur ripping off it's head, splintering and jamming that into your intestines. We are talking terminal velocity here, otherwise you might as well say "Hey you can survive if you jump from 10m so jumping from 1000m should be the same!"
          $endgroup$
          – Demigan
          Jan 21 at 9:15










        • $begingroup$
          @Demigan water isn't quite like concrete - but I agree it's still fatal as per Mythbusters youtube.com/watch?v=yGJqqDaKscQ
          $endgroup$
          – KerrAvon2055
          Jan 21 at 9:19






        • 2




          $begingroup$
          There are very many highly experienced and trained parachute jumpers around the world. None of them can reliably survive a terminal velocity jump without a parachute.
          $endgroup$
          – reirab
          Jan 21 at 21:14












        • 4




          $begingroup$
          A cat has a lower terminal velocity than a human. Look at this link from Arcanist Lupus for example: irl.cs.ucla.edu/papers/right-size.html. A human who trained on landing without parachute would still shatter his body. The best he could train for is to aim for something relatively soft to break his fall, say a tough and high bush or similar, and then pray for the heavens he lands just perfectly right and the bush is just soft enough but not too soft to cushion his fall without killing him anyway.
          $endgroup$
          – Demigan
          Jan 21 at 8:33











        • $begingroup$
          People do jump into water from quite high altitudes without severe injuries. Basically you go from full speed to standstill in a meter when jumping into water so if you exchanged water for the lower part of your body you will crush your legs, hips and so on but the more important upper part of your body will survive (although badly beaten).
          $endgroup$
          – EmLi
          Jan 21 at 8:47






        • 1




          $begingroup$
          That is pretty different. You dont reach terminal velocity (water acts like concrete when you hit it that fast) and your legs have a different rate of decelleration. Also shattered legs have a tendency to let pieces rip through your body, say the femur ripping off it's head, splintering and jamming that into your intestines. We are talking terminal velocity here, otherwise you might as well say "Hey you can survive if you jump from 10m so jumping from 1000m should be the same!"
          $endgroup$
          – Demigan
          Jan 21 at 9:15










        • $begingroup$
          @Demigan water isn't quite like concrete - but I agree it's still fatal as per Mythbusters youtube.com/watch?v=yGJqqDaKscQ
          $endgroup$
          – KerrAvon2055
          Jan 21 at 9:19






        • 2




          $begingroup$
          There are very many highly experienced and trained parachute jumpers around the world. None of them can reliably survive a terminal velocity jump without a parachute.
          $endgroup$
          – reirab
          Jan 21 at 21:14







        4




        4




        $begingroup$
        A cat has a lower terminal velocity than a human. Look at this link from Arcanist Lupus for example: irl.cs.ucla.edu/papers/right-size.html. A human who trained on landing without parachute would still shatter his body. The best he could train for is to aim for something relatively soft to break his fall, say a tough and high bush or similar, and then pray for the heavens he lands just perfectly right and the bush is just soft enough but not too soft to cushion his fall without killing him anyway.
        $endgroup$
        – Demigan
        Jan 21 at 8:33





        $begingroup$
        A cat has a lower terminal velocity than a human. Look at this link from Arcanist Lupus for example: irl.cs.ucla.edu/papers/right-size.html. A human who trained on landing without parachute would still shatter his body. The best he could train for is to aim for something relatively soft to break his fall, say a tough and high bush or similar, and then pray for the heavens he lands just perfectly right and the bush is just soft enough but not too soft to cushion his fall without killing him anyway.
        $endgroup$
        – Demigan
        Jan 21 at 8:33













        $begingroup$
        People do jump into water from quite high altitudes without severe injuries. Basically you go from full speed to standstill in a meter when jumping into water so if you exchanged water for the lower part of your body you will crush your legs, hips and so on but the more important upper part of your body will survive (although badly beaten).
        $endgroup$
        – EmLi
        Jan 21 at 8:47




        $begingroup$
        People do jump into water from quite high altitudes without severe injuries. Basically you go from full speed to standstill in a meter when jumping into water so if you exchanged water for the lower part of your body you will crush your legs, hips and so on but the more important upper part of your body will survive (although badly beaten).
        $endgroup$
        – EmLi
        Jan 21 at 8:47




        1




        1




        $begingroup$
        That is pretty different. You dont reach terminal velocity (water acts like concrete when you hit it that fast) and your legs have a different rate of decelleration. Also shattered legs have a tendency to let pieces rip through your body, say the femur ripping off it's head, splintering and jamming that into your intestines. We are talking terminal velocity here, otherwise you might as well say "Hey you can survive if you jump from 10m so jumping from 1000m should be the same!"
        $endgroup$
        – Demigan
        Jan 21 at 9:15




        $begingroup$
        That is pretty different. You dont reach terminal velocity (water acts like concrete when you hit it that fast) and your legs have a different rate of decelleration. Also shattered legs have a tendency to let pieces rip through your body, say the femur ripping off it's head, splintering and jamming that into your intestines. We are talking terminal velocity here, otherwise you might as well say "Hey you can survive if you jump from 10m so jumping from 1000m should be the same!"
        $endgroup$
        – Demigan
        Jan 21 at 9:15












        $begingroup$
        @Demigan water isn't quite like concrete - but I agree it's still fatal as per Mythbusters youtube.com/watch?v=yGJqqDaKscQ
        $endgroup$
        – KerrAvon2055
        Jan 21 at 9:19




        $begingroup$
        @Demigan water isn't quite like concrete - but I agree it's still fatal as per Mythbusters youtube.com/watch?v=yGJqqDaKscQ
        $endgroup$
        – KerrAvon2055
        Jan 21 at 9:19




        2




        2




        $begingroup$
        There are very many highly experienced and trained parachute jumpers around the world. None of them can reliably survive a terminal velocity jump without a parachute.
        $endgroup$
        – reirab
        Jan 21 at 21:14




        $begingroup$
        There are very many highly experienced and trained parachute jumpers around the world. None of them can reliably survive a terminal velocity jump without a parachute.
        $endgroup$
        – reirab
        Jan 21 at 21:14











        2












        $begingroup$

        You d have to look like this



        This is a simulation of how you would need to be to resist 100mph car crashes. Free fall is essentially the same problem



        enter image description here






        share|improve this answer









        $endgroup$








        • 4




          $begingroup$
          "Free fall is essentially the same problem." No necessarily. Being big helps you in surviving the crash, but it does not help you in free-fall. A bulky rhinoceros has a much slimmer chance of surviving free-fall than a fluffy mouse.
          $endgroup$
          – tobias_k
          Jan 21 at 11:17










        • $begingroup$
          I forgot that render existed. Sontaran/Human trans-species hybrids - Just say no!
          $endgroup$
          – Ruadhan
          Jan 21 at 15:05










        • $begingroup$
          @tobias_k Of course, if you take that rhino's terminal velocity and slam it horizontally into a thick concrete wall at that speed, it also has a slimmer chance of surviving than if you do the same to a fluffy mouse. The biggest differences between a car crash and hitting the ground at terminal velocity are that your car's crumple zones will absorb a lot of the energy and slow you down over a greater distance and that the objects you hit with a car are typically less massive and more prone to compressing and/or moving out of your way than the object you hit at the end of a fall - the Earth.
          $endgroup$
          – reirab
          Jan 21 at 21:05







        • 6




          $begingroup$
          Would I need a beard to survive too?
          $endgroup$
          – Morgan
          Jan 22 at 2:08










        • $begingroup$
          @reirab the difference is that if you are in a car crash of for example 40km/h, being fatter will help. If you are falling then the extra fat will increase your terminal velocity and cancel out the advantage the Fat, stronger bones etc brings.
          $endgroup$
          – Demigan
          Jan 22 at 7:24















        2












        $begingroup$

        You d have to look like this



        This is a simulation of how you would need to be to resist 100mph car crashes. Free fall is essentially the same problem



        enter image description here






        share|improve this answer









        $endgroup$








        • 4




          $begingroup$
          "Free fall is essentially the same problem." No necessarily. Being big helps you in surviving the crash, but it does not help you in free-fall. A bulky rhinoceros has a much slimmer chance of surviving free-fall than a fluffy mouse.
          $endgroup$
          – tobias_k
          Jan 21 at 11:17










        • $begingroup$
          I forgot that render existed. Sontaran/Human trans-species hybrids - Just say no!
          $endgroup$
          – Ruadhan
          Jan 21 at 15:05










        • $begingroup$
          @tobias_k Of course, if you take that rhino's terminal velocity and slam it horizontally into a thick concrete wall at that speed, it also has a slimmer chance of surviving than if you do the same to a fluffy mouse. The biggest differences between a car crash and hitting the ground at terminal velocity are that your car's crumple zones will absorb a lot of the energy and slow you down over a greater distance and that the objects you hit with a car are typically less massive and more prone to compressing and/or moving out of your way than the object you hit at the end of a fall - the Earth.
          $endgroup$
          – reirab
          Jan 21 at 21:05







        • 6




          $begingroup$
          Would I need a beard to survive too?
          $endgroup$
          – Morgan
          Jan 22 at 2:08










        • $begingroup$
          @reirab the difference is that if you are in a car crash of for example 40km/h, being fatter will help. If you are falling then the extra fat will increase your terminal velocity and cancel out the advantage the Fat, stronger bones etc brings.
          $endgroup$
          – Demigan
          Jan 22 at 7:24













        2












        2








        2





        $begingroup$

        You d have to look like this



        This is a simulation of how you would need to be to resist 100mph car crashes. Free fall is essentially the same problem



        enter image description here






        share|improve this answer









        $endgroup$



        You d have to look like this



        This is a simulation of how you would need to be to resist 100mph car crashes. Free fall is essentially the same problem



        enter image description here







        share|improve this answer












        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer










        answered Jan 21 at 8:43









        FredFred

        2,3761719




        2,3761719







        • 4




          $begingroup$
          "Free fall is essentially the same problem." No necessarily. Being big helps you in surviving the crash, but it does not help you in free-fall. A bulky rhinoceros has a much slimmer chance of surviving free-fall than a fluffy mouse.
          $endgroup$
          – tobias_k
          Jan 21 at 11:17










        • $begingroup$
          I forgot that render existed. Sontaran/Human trans-species hybrids - Just say no!
          $endgroup$
          – Ruadhan
          Jan 21 at 15:05










        • $begingroup$
          @tobias_k Of course, if you take that rhino's terminal velocity and slam it horizontally into a thick concrete wall at that speed, it also has a slimmer chance of surviving than if you do the same to a fluffy mouse. The biggest differences between a car crash and hitting the ground at terminal velocity are that your car's crumple zones will absorb a lot of the energy and slow you down over a greater distance and that the objects you hit with a car are typically less massive and more prone to compressing and/or moving out of your way than the object you hit at the end of a fall - the Earth.
          $endgroup$
          – reirab
          Jan 21 at 21:05







        • 6




          $begingroup$
          Would I need a beard to survive too?
          $endgroup$
          – Morgan
          Jan 22 at 2:08










        • $begingroup$
          @reirab the difference is that if you are in a car crash of for example 40km/h, being fatter will help. If you are falling then the extra fat will increase your terminal velocity and cancel out the advantage the Fat, stronger bones etc brings.
          $endgroup$
          – Demigan
          Jan 22 at 7:24












        • 4




          $begingroup$
          "Free fall is essentially the same problem." No necessarily. Being big helps you in surviving the crash, but it does not help you in free-fall. A bulky rhinoceros has a much slimmer chance of surviving free-fall than a fluffy mouse.
          $endgroup$
          – tobias_k
          Jan 21 at 11:17










        • $begingroup$
          I forgot that render existed. Sontaran/Human trans-species hybrids - Just say no!
          $endgroup$
          – Ruadhan
          Jan 21 at 15:05










        • $begingroup$
          @tobias_k Of course, if you take that rhino's terminal velocity and slam it horizontally into a thick concrete wall at that speed, it also has a slimmer chance of surviving than if you do the same to a fluffy mouse. The biggest differences between a car crash and hitting the ground at terminal velocity are that your car's crumple zones will absorb a lot of the energy and slow you down over a greater distance and that the objects you hit with a car are typically less massive and more prone to compressing and/or moving out of your way than the object you hit at the end of a fall - the Earth.
          $endgroup$
          – reirab
          Jan 21 at 21:05







        • 6




          $begingroup$
          Would I need a beard to survive too?
          $endgroup$
          – Morgan
          Jan 22 at 2:08










        • $begingroup$
          @reirab the difference is that if you are in a car crash of for example 40km/h, being fatter will help. If you are falling then the extra fat will increase your terminal velocity and cancel out the advantage the Fat, stronger bones etc brings.
          $endgroup$
          – Demigan
          Jan 22 at 7:24







        4




        4




        $begingroup$
        "Free fall is essentially the same problem." No necessarily. Being big helps you in surviving the crash, but it does not help you in free-fall. A bulky rhinoceros has a much slimmer chance of surviving free-fall than a fluffy mouse.
        $endgroup$
        – tobias_k
        Jan 21 at 11:17




        $begingroup$
        "Free fall is essentially the same problem." No necessarily. Being big helps you in surviving the crash, but it does not help you in free-fall. A bulky rhinoceros has a much slimmer chance of surviving free-fall than a fluffy mouse.
        $endgroup$
        – tobias_k
        Jan 21 at 11:17












        $begingroup$
        I forgot that render existed. Sontaran/Human trans-species hybrids - Just say no!
        $endgroup$
        – Ruadhan
        Jan 21 at 15:05




        $begingroup$
        I forgot that render existed. Sontaran/Human trans-species hybrids - Just say no!
        $endgroup$
        – Ruadhan
        Jan 21 at 15:05












        $begingroup$
        @tobias_k Of course, if you take that rhino's terminal velocity and slam it horizontally into a thick concrete wall at that speed, it also has a slimmer chance of surviving than if you do the same to a fluffy mouse. The biggest differences between a car crash and hitting the ground at terminal velocity are that your car's crumple zones will absorb a lot of the energy and slow you down over a greater distance and that the objects you hit with a car are typically less massive and more prone to compressing and/or moving out of your way than the object you hit at the end of a fall - the Earth.
        $endgroup$
        – reirab
        Jan 21 at 21:05





        $begingroup$
        @tobias_k Of course, if you take that rhino's terminal velocity and slam it horizontally into a thick concrete wall at that speed, it also has a slimmer chance of surviving than if you do the same to a fluffy mouse. The biggest differences between a car crash and hitting the ground at terminal velocity are that your car's crumple zones will absorb a lot of the energy and slow you down over a greater distance and that the objects you hit with a car are typically less massive and more prone to compressing and/or moving out of your way than the object you hit at the end of a fall - the Earth.
        $endgroup$
        – reirab
        Jan 21 at 21:05





        6




        6




        $begingroup$
        Would I need a beard to survive too?
        $endgroup$
        – Morgan
        Jan 22 at 2:08




        $begingroup$
        Would I need a beard to survive too?
        $endgroup$
        – Morgan
        Jan 22 at 2:08












        $begingroup$
        @reirab the difference is that if you are in a car crash of for example 40km/h, being fatter will help. If you are falling then the extra fat will increase your terminal velocity and cancel out the advantage the Fat, stronger bones etc brings.
        $endgroup$
        – Demigan
        Jan 22 at 7:24




        $begingroup$
        @reirab the difference is that if you are in a car crash of for example 40km/h, being fatter will help. If you are falling then the extra fat will increase your terminal velocity and cancel out the advantage the Fat, stronger bones etc brings.
        $endgroup$
        – Demigan
        Jan 22 at 7:24











        2












        $begingroup$

        The simple answer is no - the ability to survive a fall in no way implies the ability to shrug off a bullet. The answer provided by Arcanist Lupus is correct, but I think it can be simplified considerably.



        What you have to realize is twofold: bullets travel much faster than human terminal velocity, and they provide a much smaller impact area. The two combine to make an enormous difference.



        Human terminal velocity is not a precise number, but for adults at sea level it runs from about 120 mph (with the body horizontal) to about 200 mph (with the body vertical), or something like 180 to 300 fps. In fact, the vertical position is more survivable than the horizontal, since the legs provide a shock absorber effect, as well as what is called in automobiles a "crumple zone".



        Furthermore, all of the energy dissipated in the landing is done so over the entire cross-sectional area of the body, which for a vertical position will be on the order of one to two square feet.



        Bullets, on the other hand, travel roughly 4 to 10 times faster than terminal velocity (1000 fps to 3000 fps, roughly), and have an impact absorption area on the order of 2000 times smaller.



        So a bullet, on impacting a body, will simply punch through flesh, and while it will eventually be absorbed, this will not happen until it has done localized damage far in excess of the amount done by a fall.






        share|improve this answer









        $endgroup$

















          2












          $begingroup$

          The simple answer is no - the ability to survive a fall in no way implies the ability to shrug off a bullet. The answer provided by Arcanist Lupus is correct, but I think it can be simplified considerably.



          What you have to realize is twofold: bullets travel much faster than human terminal velocity, and they provide a much smaller impact area. The two combine to make an enormous difference.



          Human terminal velocity is not a precise number, but for adults at sea level it runs from about 120 mph (with the body horizontal) to about 200 mph (with the body vertical), or something like 180 to 300 fps. In fact, the vertical position is more survivable than the horizontal, since the legs provide a shock absorber effect, as well as what is called in automobiles a "crumple zone".



          Furthermore, all of the energy dissipated in the landing is done so over the entire cross-sectional area of the body, which for a vertical position will be on the order of one to two square feet.



          Bullets, on the other hand, travel roughly 4 to 10 times faster than terminal velocity (1000 fps to 3000 fps, roughly), and have an impact absorption area on the order of 2000 times smaller.



          So a bullet, on impacting a body, will simply punch through flesh, and while it will eventually be absorbed, this will not happen until it has done localized damage far in excess of the amount done by a fall.






          share|improve this answer









          $endgroup$















            2












            2








            2





            $begingroup$

            The simple answer is no - the ability to survive a fall in no way implies the ability to shrug off a bullet. The answer provided by Arcanist Lupus is correct, but I think it can be simplified considerably.



            What you have to realize is twofold: bullets travel much faster than human terminal velocity, and they provide a much smaller impact area. The two combine to make an enormous difference.



            Human terminal velocity is not a precise number, but for adults at sea level it runs from about 120 mph (with the body horizontal) to about 200 mph (with the body vertical), or something like 180 to 300 fps. In fact, the vertical position is more survivable than the horizontal, since the legs provide a shock absorber effect, as well as what is called in automobiles a "crumple zone".



            Furthermore, all of the energy dissipated in the landing is done so over the entire cross-sectional area of the body, which for a vertical position will be on the order of one to two square feet.



            Bullets, on the other hand, travel roughly 4 to 10 times faster than terminal velocity (1000 fps to 3000 fps, roughly), and have an impact absorption area on the order of 2000 times smaller.



            So a bullet, on impacting a body, will simply punch through flesh, and while it will eventually be absorbed, this will not happen until it has done localized damage far in excess of the amount done by a fall.






            share|improve this answer









            $endgroup$



            The simple answer is no - the ability to survive a fall in no way implies the ability to shrug off a bullet. The answer provided by Arcanist Lupus is correct, but I think it can be simplified considerably.



            What you have to realize is twofold: bullets travel much faster than human terminal velocity, and they provide a much smaller impact area. The two combine to make an enormous difference.



            Human terminal velocity is not a precise number, but for adults at sea level it runs from about 120 mph (with the body horizontal) to about 200 mph (with the body vertical), or something like 180 to 300 fps. In fact, the vertical position is more survivable than the horizontal, since the legs provide a shock absorber effect, as well as what is called in automobiles a "crumple zone".



            Furthermore, all of the energy dissipated in the landing is done so over the entire cross-sectional area of the body, which for a vertical position will be on the order of one to two square feet.



            Bullets, on the other hand, travel roughly 4 to 10 times faster than terminal velocity (1000 fps to 3000 fps, roughly), and have an impact absorption area on the order of 2000 times smaller.



            So a bullet, on impacting a body, will simply punch through flesh, and while it will eventually be absorbed, this will not happen until it has done localized damage far in excess of the amount done by a fall.







            share|improve this answer












            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer










            answered Jan 21 at 21:00









            WhatRoughBeastWhatRoughBeast

            22.8k23280




            22.8k23280





















                1












                $begingroup$

                okay so terminal velocity and being bullet proof have nothing to do with each other. the denser you are the more you weigh which increases your inertia. higher density could theoretically make you bullet proof but would increase your inertia, therefore a fall would be likely to be more lethal. higher bone density might help but the impact on organs would be worse. the lighter an object is the less gravity attracts it so the two problems would compound each other. maybe make them bullet proof with technology that helps them fly, or put some really good parachutes on them. (side note most readers would simply accept the being able to fall from heights if they were bullet proof so I would just ignore the lack of explanation on the former)






                share|improve this answer









                $endgroup$

















                  1












                  $begingroup$

                  okay so terminal velocity and being bullet proof have nothing to do with each other. the denser you are the more you weigh which increases your inertia. higher density could theoretically make you bullet proof but would increase your inertia, therefore a fall would be likely to be more lethal. higher bone density might help but the impact on organs would be worse. the lighter an object is the less gravity attracts it so the two problems would compound each other. maybe make them bullet proof with technology that helps them fly, or put some really good parachutes on them. (side note most readers would simply accept the being able to fall from heights if they were bullet proof so I would just ignore the lack of explanation on the former)






                  share|improve this answer









                  $endgroup$















                    1












                    1








                    1





                    $begingroup$

                    okay so terminal velocity and being bullet proof have nothing to do with each other. the denser you are the more you weigh which increases your inertia. higher density could theoretically make you bullet proof but would increase your inertia, therefore a fall would be likely to be more lethal. higher bone density might help but the impact on organs would be worse. the lighter an object is the less gravity attracts it so the two problems would compound each other. maybe make them bullet proof with technology that helps them fly, or put some really good parachutes on them. (side note most readers would simply accept the being able to fall from heights if they were bullet proof so I would just ignore the lack of explanation on the former)






                    share|improve this answer









                    $endgroup$



                    okay so terminal velocity and being bullet proof have nothing to do with each other. the denser you are the more you weigh which increases your inertia. higher density could theoretically make you bullet proof but would increase your inertia, therefore a fall would be likely to be more lethal. higher bone density might help but the impact on organs would be worse. the lighter an object is the less gravity attracts it so the two problems would compound each other. maybe make them bullet proof with technology that helps them fly, or put some really good parachutes on them. (side note most readers would simply accept the being able to fall from heights if they were bullet proof so I would just ignore the lack of explanation on the former)







                    share|improve this answer












                    share|improve this answer



                    share|improve this answer










                    answered Jan 21 at 16:29









                    jyoung1066jyoung1066

                    112




                    112





















                        1












                        $begingroup$

                        The first thing to know is that fall-proof and bulletproof are largely unrelated. Sure, if you put enough "durability" on anything, you'll get both, but if you want to optimize your modifications, I'd focus on one or the other.



                        Optimizing for Bullets



                        Bulletproofing is fairly straightforward, as it largely comes down to three basic ideas:



                        1. Distributing kinetic energy across a wider area

                        2. Absorbing kinetic energy (typically through plastic deformation)

                        3. Preventing penetration

                        The first and second are reasonably interchangeable, where more capacity to distribute force largely obviates absorption capacity, and vice versa. If you can distribute the force of a bullet from an area less than a square centimeter in size (bullet cross-sectional area) to around 2,000 square centimeters (approximate torso cross-sectional area), you've reduced the kinetic energy applied per unit area by 2,000. If instead, you put a wall of concrete in front of you, that doesn't do much as far as distributing force, but it does wonders at absorbing kinetic energy through plastic deformation.



                        Preventing penetration is largely about putting fibrous materials that will "catch" a bullet before they enter the body, and these same types of fibrous materials (Kevlar, for example) tend to do distribution fairly well.



                        So some fibers for distribution and prevention, and some ceramics or other plastically deformables for absorption is the typical solution. Note that out of the fibers and deformables, the deformables will help somewhat with fall resistance, but the fibers will not. Which brings us to...



                        Optimizing for Falls



                        The first question to ask is what it is specifically that typically kills people in high-altitude falls. I'd imagine it's breaking of the spine, and the bones of the ribs being pushed through the organs. What causes both of these problems is the same two issues: things bending like they aren't supposed to, and jerk being applied to the body.



                        To stop things from bending, you can include a frame of some sort, either directly to the spine or to a frame outside the body. To stop the jerk is trickier, and comes down to either reducing the force (either absorption like with the bullets or decreasing speed of fall) or slowing down the impact (think a giant pillow, gently bringing you to rest upon impact). Here you have a few options:



                        1. Add means of drag or decrease weight to decrease terminal velocity, for example, wings or a parachute

                        2. Add plastically deformables (see bullet section for more on this) to absorb the force of an impact

                        3. Add cushioning to slow an impact

                        Here your creativity is the limit. Plenty of real-life creatures can survive the force of an impact at terminal velocity. For example, most insects cannot be killed by falls from any height, because as you scale down objects, they tend to handle impacts far better. A human-sized ant would be only slightly more fall-proof than a human-sized human. So small size is your friend.



                        You can also add something like a biological parachute or wing, which can slow you down just before landing. Of course, this isn't as "cool" to a reader as an enhanced human who manages superhero landings.



                        Another interesting option is crumple zones, areas of your enhanced human specifically designed to smash, absorbing the force of the landing, perhaps quickly healing/regrowing after smashing. You can also try to capture the kinetic energy of the landing, with some electromagnetic damping or something similar "capturing" the force and generating electricity, glucose, fuel, or something else that can be used later.



                        Finally, cushioning. This one is tricky, because generally you need a lot of it. Crash pads for bouldering (low-altitude rock climbing) are typically around 13cm (5in) thick, and that's just for heights below 6m (20ft). From that height, you'd only be able to reach around 33km/h (20mph) at maximum, disregarding air resistance, well below the estimated 195km/h (122mph) terminal velocity of a skydiver. Basic physics dictates that kinetic energy, the real problem with falling, grows with the square of velocity. This means that if a 13cm (5in) mat can handle a fall at 33km/h (20mph), a fall of 195km/h (122mph) will pack not 6 times the punch, but 36 times the punch. If required mat thickness scales linearly with velocity (which it doesn't, it's probably even worse than that, so this is probably a best-case scenario), that means you'd need 78cm (31in) of pad to take an impact at terminal velocity. Again, this is only a best-case scenario, so you'd likely need much more than that, and 78cm (31in) is already a fairly prohibitively large amount of padding to add to your enhanced humans.



                        Conclusion



                        If you want to stop bullets, add fibers and plastically deformables. If you want to stop falls, slow down the fall, add plastically deformables, or slow down the impact with biological padding. Let me know what you come up with! As far as creativity goes, the sky's the limit. Then again, that's sort of the point :)






                        share|improve this answer









                        $endgroup$

















                          1












                          $begingroup$

                          The first thing to know is that fall-proof and bulletproof are largely unrelated. Sure, if you put enough "durability" on anything, you'll get both, but if you want to optimize your modifications, I'd focus on one or the other.



                          Optimizing for Bullets



                          Bulletproofing is fairly straightforward, as it largely comes down to three basic ideas:



                          1. Distributing kinetic energy across a wider area

                          2. Absorbing kinetic energy (typically through plastic deformation)

                          3. Preventing penetration

                          The first and second are reasonably interchangeable, where more capacity to distribute force largely obviates absorption capacity, and vice versa. If you can distribute the force of a bullet from an area less than a square centimeter in size (bullet cross-sectional area) to around 2,000 square centimeters (approximate torso cross-sectional area), you've reduced the kinetic energy applied per unit area by 2,000. If instead, you put a wall of concrete in front of you, that doesn't do much as far as distributing force, but it does wonders at absorbing kinetic energy through plastic deformation.



                          Preventing penetration is largely about putting fibrous materials that will "catch" a bullet before they enter the body, and these same types of fibrous materials (Kevlar, for example) tend to do distribution fairly well.



                          So some fibers for distribution and prevention, and some ceramics or other plastically deformables for absorption is the typical solution. Note that out of the fibers and deformables, the deformables will help somewhat with fall resistance, but the fibers will not. Which brings us to...



                          Optimizing for Falls



                          The first question to ask is what it is specifically that typically kills people in high-altitude falls. I'd imagine it's breaking of the spine, and the bones of the ribs being pushed through the organs. What causes both of these problems is the same two issues: things bending like they aren't supposed to, and jerk being applied to the body.



                          To stop things from bending, you can include a frame of some sort, either directly to the spine or to a frame outside the body. To stop the jerk is trickier, and comes down to either reducing the force (either absorption like with the bullets or decreasing speed of fall) or slowing down the impact (think a giant pillow, gently bringing you to rest upon impact). Here you have a few options:



                          1. Add means of drag or decrease weight to decrease terminal velocity, for example, wings or a parachute

                          2. Add plastically deformables (see bullet section for more on this) to absorb the force of an impact

                          3. Add cushioning to slow an impact

                          Here your creativity is the limit. Plenty of real-life creatures can survive the force of an impact at terminal velocity. For example, most insects cannot be killed by falls from any height, because as you scale down objects, they tend to handle impacts far better. A human-sized ant would be only slightly more fall-proof than a human-sized human. So small size is your friend.



                          You can also add something like a biological parachute or wing, which can slow you down just before landing. Of course, this isn't as "cool" to a reader as an enhanced human who manages superhero landings.



                          Another interesting option is crumple zones, areas of your enhanced human specifically designed to smash, absorbing the force of the landing, perhaps quickly healing/regrowing after smashing. You can also try to capture the kinetic energy of the landing, with some electromagnetic damping or something similar "capturing" the force and generating electricity, glucose, fuel, or something else that can be used later.



                          Finally, cushioning. This one is tricky, because generally you need a lot of it. Crash pads for bouldering (low-altitude rock climbing) are typically around 13cm (5in) thick, and that's just for heights below 6m (20ft). From that height, you'd only be able to reach around 33km/h (20mph) at maximum, disregarding air resistance, well below the estimated 195km/h (122mph) terminal velocity of a skydiver. Basic physics dictates that kinetic energy, the real problem with falling, grows with the square of velocity. This means that if a 13cm (5in) mat can handle a fall at 33km/h (20mph), a fall of 195km/h (122mph) will pack not 6 times the punch, but 36 times the punch. If required mat thickness scales linearly with velocity (which it doesn't, it's probably even worse than that, so this is probably a best-case scenario), that means you'd need 78cm (31in) of pad to take an impact at terminal velocity. Again, this is only a best-case scenario, so you'd likely need much more than that, and 78cm (31in) is already a fairly prohibitively large amount of padding to add to your enhanced humans.



                          Conclusion



                          If you want to stop bullets, add fibers and plastically deformables. If you want to stop falls, slow down the fall, add plastically deformables, or slow down the impact with biological padding. Let me know what you come up with! As far as creativity goes, the sky's the limit. Then again, that's sort of the point :)






                          share|improve this answer









                          $endgroup$















                            1












                            1








                            1





                            $begingroup$

                            The first thing to know is that fall-proof and bulletproof are largely unrelated. Sure, if you put enough "durability" on anything, you'll get both, but if you want to optimize your modifications, I'd focus on one or the other.



                            Optimizing for Bullets



                            Bulletproofing is fairly straightforward, as it largely comes down to three basic ideas:



                            1. Distributing kinetic energy across a wider area

                            2. Absorbing kinetic energy (typically through plastic deformation)

                            3. Preventing penetration

                            The first and second are reasonably interchangeable, where more capacity to distribute force largely obviates absorption capacity, and vice versa. If you can distribute the force of a bullet from an area less than a square centimeter in size (bullet cross-sectional area) to around 2,000 square centimeters (approximate torso cross-sectional area), you've reduced the kinetic energy applied per unit area by 2,000. If instead, you put a wall of concrete in front of you, that doesn't do much as far as distributing force, but it does wonders at absorbing kinetic energy through plastic deformation.



                            Preventing penetration is largely about putting fibrous materials that will "catch" a bullet before they enter the body, and these same types of fibrous materials (Kevlar, for example) tend to do distribution fairly well.



                            So some fibers for distribution and prevention, and some ceramics or other plastically deformables for absorption is the typical solution. Note that out of the fibers and deformables, the deformables will help somewhat with fall resistance, but the fibers will not. Which brings us to...



                            Optimizing for Falls



                            The first question to ask is what it is specifically that typically kills people in high-altitude falls. I'd imagine it's breaking of the spine, and the bones of the ribs being pushed through the organs. What causes both of these problems is the same two issues: things bending like they aren't supposed to, and jerk being applied to the body.



                            To stop things from bending, you can include a frame of some sort, either directly to the spine or to a frame outside the body. To stop the jerk is trickier, and comes down to either reducing the force (either absorption like with the bullets or decreasing speed of fall) or slowing down the impact (think a giant pillow, gently bringing you to rest upon impact). Here you have a few options:



                            1. Add means of drag or decrease weight to decrease terminal velocity, for example, wings or a parachute

                            2. Add plastically deformables (see bullet section for more on this) to absorb the force of an impact

                            3. Add cushioning to slow an impact

                            Here your creativity is the limit. Plenty of real-life creatures can survive the force of an impact at terminal velocity. For example, most insects cannot be killed by falls from any height, because as you scale down objects, they tend to handle impacts far better. A human-sized ant would be only slightly more fall-proof than a human-sized human. So small size is your friend.



                            You can also add something like a biological parachute or wing, which can slow you down just before landing. Of course, this isn't as "cool" to a reader as an enhanced human who manages superhero landings.



                            Another interesting option is crumple zones, areas of your enhanced human specifically designed to smash, absorbing the force of the landing, perhaps quickly healing/regrowing after smashing. You can also try to capture the kinetic energy of the landing, with some electromagnetic damping or something similar "capturing" the force and generating electricity, glucose, fuel, or something else that can be used later.



                            Finally, cushioning. This one is tricky, because generally you need a lot of it. Crash pads for bouldering (low-altitude rock climbing) are typically around 13cm (5in) thick, and that's just for heights below 6m (20ft). From that height, you'd only be able to reach around 33km/h (20mph) at maximum, disregarding air resistance, well below the estimated 195km/h (122mph) terminal velocity of a skydiver. Basic physics dictates that kinetic energy, the real problem with falling, grows with the square of velocity. This means that if a 13cm (5in) mat can handle a fall at 33km/h (20mph), a fall of 195km/h (122mph) will pack not 6 times the punch, but 36 times the punch. If required mat thickness scales linearly with velocity (which it doesn't, it's probably even worse than that, so this is probably a best-case scenario), that means you'd need 78cm (31in) of pad to take an impact at terminal velocity. Again, this is only a best-case scenario, so you'd likely need much more than that, and 78cm (31in) is already a fairly prohibitively large amount of padding to add to your enhanced humans.



                            Conclusion



                            If you want to stop bullets, add fibers and plastically deformables. If you want to stop falls, slow down the fall, add plastically deformables, or slow down the impact with biological padding. Let me know what you come up with! As far as creativity goes, the sky's the limit. Then again, that's sort of the point :)






                            share|improve this answer









                            $endgroup$



                            The first thing to know is that fall-proof and bulletproof are largely unrelated. Sure, if you put enough "durability" on anything, you'll get both, but if you want to optimize your modifications, I'd focus on one or the other.



                            Optimizing for Bullets



                            Bulletproofing is fairly straightforward, as it largely comes down to three basic ideas:



                            1. Distributing kinetic energy across a wider area

                            2. Absorbing kinetic energy (typically through plastic deformation)

                            3. Preventing penetration

                            The first and second are reasonably interchangeable, where more capacity to distribute force largely obviates absorption capacity, and vice versa. If you can distribute the force of a bullet from an area less than a square centimeter in size (bullet cross-sectional area) to around 2,000 square centimeters (approximate torso cross-sectional area), you've reduced the kinetic energy applied per unit area by 2,000. If instead, you put a wall of concrete in front of you, that doesn't do much as far as distributing force, but it does wonders at absorbing kinetic energy through plastic deformation.



                            Preventing penetration is largely about putting fibrous materials that will "catch" a bullet before they enter the body, and these same types of fibrous materials (Kevlar, for example) tend to do distribution fairly well.



                            So some fibers for distribution and prevention, and some ceramics or other plastically deformables for absorption is the typical solution. Note that out of the fibers and deformables, the deformables will help somewhat with fall resistance, but the fibers will not. Which brings us to...



                            Optimizing for Falls



                            The first question to ask is what it is specifically that typically kills people in high-altitude falls. I'd imagine it's breaking of the spine, and the bones of the ribs being pushed through the organs. What causes both of these problems is the same two issues: things bending like they aren't supposed to, and jerk being applied to the body.



                            To stop things from bending, you can include a frame of some sort, either directly to the spine or to a frame outside the body. To stop the jerk is trickier, and comes down to either reducing the force (either absorption like with the bullets or decreasing speed of fall) or slowing down the impact (think a giant pillow, gently bringing you to rest upon impact). Here you have a few options:



                            1. Add means of drag or decrease weight to decrease terminal velocity, for example, wings or a parachute

                            2. Add plastically deformables (see bullet section for more on this) to absorb the force of an impact

                            3. Add cushioning to slow an impact

                            Here your creativity is the limit. Plenty of real-life creatures can survive the force of an impact at terminal velocity. For example, most insects cannot be killed by falls from any height, because as you scale down objects, they tend to handle impacts far better. A human-sized ant would be only slightly more fall-proof than a human-sized human. So small size is your friend.



                            You can also add something like a biological parachute or wing, which can slow you down just before landing. Of course, this isn't as "cool" to a reader as an enhanced human who manages superhero landings.



                            Another interesting option is crumple zones, areas of your enhanced human specifically designed to smash, absorbing the force of the landing, perhaps quickly healing/regrowing after smashing. You can also try to capture the kinetic energy of the landing, with some electromagnetic damping or something similar "capturing" the force and generating electricity, glucose, fuel, or something else that can be used later.



                            Finally, cushioning. This one is tricky, because generally you need a lot of it. Crash pads for bouldering (low-altitude rock climbing) are typically around 13cm (5in) thick, and that's just for heights below 6m (20ft). From that height, you'd only be able to reach around 33km/h (20mph) at maximum, disregarding air resistance, well below the estimated 195km/h (122mph) terminal velocity of a skydiver. Basic physics dictates that kinetic energy, the real problem with falling, grows with the square of velocity. This means that if a 13cm (5in) mat can handle a fall at 33km/h (20mph), a fall of 195km/h (122mph) will pack not 6 times the punch, but 36 times the punch. If required mat thickness scales linearly with velocity (which it doesn't, it's probably even worse than that, so this is probably a best-case scenario), that means you'd need 78cm (31in) of pad to take an impact at terminal velocity. Again, this is only a best-case scenario, so you'd likely need much more than that, and 78cm (31in) is already a fairly prohibitively large amount of padding to add to your enhanced humans.



                            Conclusion



                            If you want to stop bullets, add fibers and plastically deformables. If you want to stop falls, slow down the fall, add plastically deformables, or slow down the impact with biological padding. Let me know what you come up with! As far as creativity goes, the sky's the limit. Then again, that's sort of the point :)







                            share|improve this answer












                            share|improve this answer



                            share|improve this answer










                            answered Jan 22 at 6:00









                            TheEnvironmentalistTheEnvironmentalist

                            1335




                            1335



























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                                How to check contact read email or not when send email to Individual?

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                                Clash Royale CLAN TAG #URR8PPP up vote 1 down vote favorite I'm using WordPress 4.9.8, CiviCRM to 5.5.1, I usually send email to contact by Search> Find contacts View contact details Action> Send email Send email ok, Contact received mail ok like picture But status only Email sent though contact read email or not. So, can CiviCRM can change status to Email read when contact read email? wordpress email share | improve this question asked Sep 26 at 0:12 ToanLuong 49 9 add a comment  |  up vote 1 down vote favorite I'm using WordPress 4.9.8, CiviCRM to 5.5.1, I usually send email to contact by Search> Find contacts View contact details Action> Send email Send email ok, Contact received mail ok like picture But status only Email sent though contact read email or not. So, can CiviCRM can change status to Email read when contact read email? wordpress email share | improve this questi...
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                                Displaying single band from multi-band raster using QGIS

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                                Clash Royale CLAN TAG #URR8PPP 1 How can I extract a single band from multi-band raster in QGIS? I have an remote sensed image which has 6 bands (including NDVI band), I want to display each band separately, but have no idea how to do. I have seen some questions similar here but none worked for me. The original image (has 6 bands) is: I want to display the band 6 which should be like this: But I tried gdal_translate, and couldn't get the correct result. What I have got is: qgis raster multi-band share | improve this question edited Mar 5 at 0:53 Summer asked Mar 4 at 6:42 Summer Summer 23 6 Is this any help gis.stackexchange.com/questions/220658/… ? if not gis.stackexchange.com/questions/62133/… might help. – Michael Stimson Mar 4 at 6:46 Thanks for answering but when I used gdal_translate, qgis showed that 'Error 4: Kayena.tif: No such file or directory". Would you know how to fi...
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                                How many registers does an x86_64 CPU actually have?

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                                Clash Royale CLAN TAG #URR8PPP up vote 2 down vote favorite I am currently learning reverse engineering and am studying the flags register. I had in my mind that rflags was just another name for one of the 16 general purpose registers, for example rax or rbx . But it looks like rflags is actually an additional register. So that makes 17 registers in total... how many more could there be? I have spent at least an hour on this and found numerous different answers. The best answer so far is this, which says that there are 40 registers in total. 16 General Purpose Registers 2 Status Registers 6 Code Segment Registers 16 SSE Registers 8 FPU/MMX Registers But if I add that up, I get 48. Could anybody provide an official answer on how many registers an x86_64 CPU has (e.g. an Intel i7). Additionally, I have seen references to 'hardware' and 'architectural' registers. What are those registers and how many are there? register x86-64 share | improve this...
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