Lego are neat, fun and incredibly durable. Long after our names are forgotten and our ancestors' bloodlines are wiped out, their colorful plastic bodies will endure until the heat death of the universe. Plus, they hurt like hell when you step on them barefoot.
Anyone who played with Lego as a child (or still does) probably knows this first hand. Anyone with children playing with Lego definitely does. As a parent, you don't think you're stepping on all the crap your young brood will leave everywhere, but what you don't know before your kids are born is how brain dead you'll be most of the time from having kids. But there are hundreds, possibly even thousands, of unique Lego bricks. Which part can cause the most damage?
That's the question from YouTuber Nate Scovill (via Hackaday) recently I started looking for an answer using a mix of scientific method and Mythbusters-inspired excess. Scovill crowdsourced information from Lego enthusiasts on Reddit and Discord to narrow down the potentially most painful parts to research, then used increasingly sophisticated tools to test them.
First, Scovill used a series of cardboard squares pressed onto the Lego bricks in question to record their “damage gradients,” and used a constructed, weighted arm that tapped the cardboard to simulate the weight of a foot press. Pointy flames, wizard hats, and retro plastic trees did the worst damage.
Not content with judging from the box alone, Scovill also decided to make an entire foot out of ballistic gel. This would capture the damage in more detail and also allow for parts to get stuck deep in the material if the simulated accident goes so badly. Which Lego piece was actually the most dangerous in the end?
One you've probably never heard of. It is a red wheel with a metal pin in it that Lego stopped producing a long time ago. Before the company's engineers and manufacturing processes were as high-tech and sophisticated as they are today, there were some Lego pieces where the connection was actually metal. These red wheels do more than a little good if you step on them hard at the right angle Home alone-like pain. Scovill notes that you'll probably want to make sure your tetanus shots are up to date in case you get caught with one.
Luckily for most of us, the pain of stepping on Lego can be eased with a few colorful swear words.
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