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Random Fact of the Day: Don't Worry About Falling Pennies

  • 1/23/07 at 09:24 AM
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Photo: Getty Images

Here's a bit of information we're passing on to you for no good reason except that we find it moderately interesting (and that it was sent to us by a pretty high-level editor at the magazine, and we feel we ought to humbly accept his advice): Contrary to received wisdom, a penny dropped from the Empire State Building cannot kill you. "A penny isn't the most aerodynamic of weapons," says the Website LiveScience, which is owned by the folks behind Space.com. "A combination of its shape and wind friction means that, tossed even from the 1,250-foot Empire State Building, it would travel fast enough merely to sting an unlucky pedestrian." We're thrilled to have one fewer thing to worry about as we journey through midtown. Now if LiveScience could only do something about crowds of slow-moving tourists.

A Penny Dropped From the Top of a Tall Building Could Kill a Pedestrian [LiveScience]

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