Is that garbage can bear resistant? These bears will find out
Summary
Ira Flatow interviews journalist Alex Davies about the hidden world of product safety testing, featuring his book *The Destroyer*. They discuss how grizzly bears test bear-resistant coolers, how jet engines are evaluated using air-cannon-launched chickens, and how labs use live birds to assess bird-safe glass. The conversation also covers the compromise-driven standards for lawnmower safety and child-proof medicine bottles, highlighting the balance between ideal safety and practical usability.
Topics discussed
Intro: GLP-1 microdosing listener call
Guest intro: Alex Davies and bear-resistant products
Origin story of Kobuk the grizzly bear
How bears test garbage cans for certification
Testing jet engines against bird strikes
Developing and testing bird-safe glass
Sponsor breaks and event promotions
How lawnmower safety standards are negotiated
Testing child-proof vs senior-accessible bottles
Boeing 737 incident and the role of test engineers
Outro and listener contact info
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