If you only had months to live, would you rather wither away in a hospital bed or go out on the ride of your life? That’s the concept behind the euthanasia coaster, hypothetical extreme thrill ride. Lithuanian engineer Julijonas Urbonas created a hypothetical roller coaster in 2010 that was expressly designed to thrill and then kill its riders. The coaster would send riders plummeting down a 1,640-foot near-vertical drop before entering the first of 7 consecutive loops, getting tighter as they went. The incredible speed of the drop coupled with the rapid inversions would subject riders to sustained 10 g's for a full minute. The excessive gravitational forces would rush blood to the extremities, starving the brain of oxygen. After losing consciousness, brain death would quickly follow. The entire ride would take place in 3 minutes 20 seconds. Fortunately — or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it — the roller coaster has never become a reality.
Euthanasia Coaster: A Roller Coaster Designed to Kill Riders
If you only had months to live, would you rather wither away in a hospital bed or go out on the ride of your life? That’s the concept behind the euthanasia coaster, hypothetical extreme thrill ride. Lithuanian engineer Julijonas Urbonas created a hypothetical roller coaster in 2010 that was expressly designed to thrill and then kill its riders. The coaster would send riders plummeting down a 1,640-foot near-vertical drop before entering the first of 7 consecutive loops, getting tighter as they went. The incredible speed of the drop coupled with the rapid inversions would subject riders to sustained 10 g's for a full minute. The excessive gravitational forces would rush blood to the extremities, starving the brain of oxygen. After losing consciousness, brain death would quickly follow. The entire ride would take place in 3 minutes 20 seconds. Fortunately — or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it — the roller coaster has never become a reality.