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Behind the ballistics of the 'explosive' squirting cucumber

Behind the ballistics of the 'explosive' squirting cucumber

4 comments

·July 17, 2025
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firesteelrain

Wild how evolution landed on 53° as the ideal launch angle. Nature’s own ballistics optimization.

lolc

Great capture and it's funny to read the "possible applications" section when you know humans just love watching slow motion exploding things.

Sharlin

> speeds up to 29 miles per hour and reach shooting distances up to 12 meters.

My brain hurts.

But I learned a new word: mucilaginous.

temp0826

This reminded me of the South American "dynamite tree" (Hura crepitans, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hura_crepitans ), which wikipedia says launches seeds from its exploding fruits at 160 mph, up to 100 ft away! A pretty menacing tree actually, its trunk covered in huge thorns and it has a poisonous sap.