Handsome Graham: how should a man’s body be to survive a car accident?

Graham - a modified man, resistant to accidents

Man is far from being the strongest and most resistant creature to the influence of external factors. Having changed their habitat for themselves, people began to live in more comfortable conditions. But these same changes introduce into our lives a number of additional factors acting on an organism unsuitable for them.

For example, a car accident. If you drive a car, even driving slowly along the road, you can always become a victim of circumstances. A collision with a traveling car, a fall into a ravine, a collision with any other obstacle - all this threatens the health and life of a person. Air bags, seat belts, head restraints are excellent inventions, they help in the most difficult situations. And what if there are no airbags, no seat belt either? Australian experts decided to design a human body that could withstand the factors acting on the body during a car accident.

The authors of the project are not scientists, but the Australian Transport Accident Commission (TAS). But the team created under the initiative of the Commission included scientists, physicians, and computer graphics specialists. Among the invited specialists are the traumatologist of Royal Melbourne Hospital Christian Canfield (Christian Kenfield), road safety specialist David Logan (David Logan), artist and designer Patricia Piccinini. The project was named Graham. A similar name was given to "man", whose body was designed to increase the probability of survival in an accident.
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The participants in this work concentrated on the eight most vulnerable areas of the human body. These are the brain, skull, face, neck, chest, skin, knees, legs (thighs and legs). After that, scientists began to modify each zone separately. The project participants accompanied their work with comments on each of the modified zones.

Thus, the skull of a person resistant to accidents is larger and denser than a human. It is filled with a large amount of cerebrospinal fluid, more here and ligaments. All this allows you to protect the brain in a collision with an obstacle at high speed. Graham's head looks more like a leather-covered motorcycle helmet. In fact, it is - the purpose of the strengthened skull and adjacent tissues - to take a blow to yourself, reducing the impact of the impact on the brain. You can appreciate the advantages of the structure of Graham's head at this link .



An accident usually suffers a person. A strong blow to the steering wheel, dashboard, windshield can turn a person's face into a mess of skin and bones. To prevent this, Graham's face is literally hidden in a massive skull. The nose is almost invisible, the eyes are sitting deep in the sockets. Adipose tissue absorbs shock.



The rib cage of a modified person is enlarged. The ribs are thickened. Between the ribs are special cavities that play the role of miniature airbags. The form of the chest is barrel-shaped. The skin of this creature is more dense, it serves as a reliable protection for the muscles. It is especially dense on the hands, because people usually hide behind their hands from the blow. Details of the structure of Graham's chest - here .



In car accidents, the body often has loads that the body cannot handle. Human chest and organs in it are often damaged. The ribs are not bad at absorbing shocks that are not too strong, but at higher loads they simply break. Seat belts are designed to reduce the force of impact, and reduce the level of stress on the chest. Without belts, we would need additional protection measures.



Graham's bones are sealed. On the knees - additional ligaments, and the knee joint can bend in any direction. There is an additional joint on the lower leg. With its help, a person from the Graham clan can quickly bounce off of an approaching car (if it is a pedestrian) or withstand the load on their feet when they strike something (if it is a motorist). The legs of this type were one of the representatives of an alien civilization, shown in the "Independence Day". That creature jumped very well. You can see Graham's legs in detail here .



Legs are a particularly vulnerable part of the body. With a strong blow, the leg bones break. The level of damage depends on the size of the vehicle, its speed at collision and the direction of impact. In many situations, the damage to the legs is very heavy, and the bones on the legs do not grow together very quickly and not always correctly.



Graham’s creators talk about their project as follows: “Graham is an educational tool that will serve society for many years, pointing out the reasons for creating additional security systems in the car that protect us if something goes wrong.” “We have to accept the fact that people always make mistakes, but modern safety systems in cars can significantly reduce and weaken the negative factors affecting a person who has had an accident. This increases the chances of survival. ”

Now Graham is on display in the Library of the State of Victoria. There he will be until August 8 of this year. After August 8, a person who is not afraid of car accidents will travel all over Australia, and then, perhaps, other countries. Graham's virtual model is available here .