PEAK PENETRATION FORCE

[rynling]

I got an insane peer review request this morning, and I need to share the title of the manuscript and a few sentences of the abstract.

PEAK PENETRATION FORCE DURING STABBING OF CHEST WALL WITH A KATANA SWORD

The force required for a sword to penetrate the human chest was identified as an important issue for the defense in a case of homicide by stabbing. Previous literature on penetration force had tested knives but not swords. The objective of the current study was to determine the peak force during penetration of a surrogate for human tissue with a katana sword.

If it makes a difference, this request is coming from a forensic science journal. The journal seems to be legit, but wow. Okay.

Comments

[runicmagitek]

1) holy shit I needed to laugh. Thank you for that alone

2) I feel infinitely better about all the times I've half-assed fic titles omg

3) the title alone reads like a post on r/JustGuysBeingDudes instead of, you know, a forensic science journal

Whether or not you accept the peer review request, I super appreciate you sharing this unhinged gem on a Tuesday morning 🥂

[rynling]

I was thinking about where this came from, and I came to the conclusion that the journal (or its parent organization) must be using AI to find potential reviewers. And I thought about how hard this shitty little AI must have worked to find my name, and I was kind of touched. Bless its poorly-programmed silicon heart. I laughed, and then I got warm feelings...

...and then I googled "homicide by katana" and wished I hadn't. 😰

Anyway, your story titles are consistently excellent. If you half-assed any of them, it's news to me.

[lassarina]

I'm dying that it's specifically a katana, which IIRC isn't even necessarily designed for stab (rather, it is designed for slash?) as opposed to Any Other Sword.

[rynling]

I was also curious about this. I mean, not curious enough to agree to read the manuscript, but curious enough to google "homicide with katana sword."

Here is what I found: It's not uncommon! Which is super upsetting!! And really sad. It seems like the sort of people who attempt to use a katana as a weapon are exactly the sort of people you'd expect to own a katana in the first place: American (and Canadian, and Australian) men in their twenties and thirties who live with their parents.

Damn I wish we lived in a society where it was easy for people to find decent jobs and live their best lives instead of becoming so internet-brained that they try to cut up their families with a sword.

[lassarina]

....oof. I wish I could say I'm surprised, but I'm not.

Western society really needs to do better about self-actualization and fulfillment, but I realize that's a tall ask.