:Euthanasia Coaster
{{Short description|Hypothetical passenger-killing ride}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox roller coaster
| name = Euthanasia Coaster
| image = Euthanasia coaster profile.svg
| caption = Track profile of the Euthanasia Coaster, showing its {{convert|500|m|abbr=on}} lift hill and seven clothoid inversions
| type = Steel
| designer = Julijonas Urbonas
| model = Exa coaster
| lift = Cable lift hill
| height_m = 500
| drop_m =
| length_m = 7544
| speed_km/h = 360
| gforce = 10
| inversions = 7
| duration = 3:20
| nomissingcoordscategory = yes
}}
The Euthanasia Coaster is the name given to a hypothetical steel roller coaster and euthanasia device designed with the sole purpose of killing its passengers.{{cite web | url=https://www.wired.co.uk/article/human-plus-science-gallery | title=The Future of the Human Species Explored | publisher=Condé Nast Publications | work=WIRED Science | date=6 April 2011 | access-date=24 April 2011 | author=Solon, Olivia}} The concept was conceived in 2010 and made into a scale model by Lithuanian artist Julijonas Urbonas, a PhD candidate at the Royal College of Art in London.
Urbonas, who had formerly been an amusement park employee, stated that the goal of his concept roller coaster is to take lives "with elegance and euphoria",{{cite web | url=https://io9.gizmodo.com/5793305/the-euthanasia-coaster-the-last-roller-coaster-youll-ever-ride | title=The Euthanasia Coaster, the Last Roller Coaster You'll Ever Ride | publisher=Gawker Media | date=18 April 2011 | access-date=24 April 2011 | author=Lamar, Cyriaqe | archive-date=23 June 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623085058/https://io9.gizmodo.com/5793305/the-euthanasia-coaster-the-last-roller-coaster-youll-ever-ride | url-status=dead }} either for euthanasia or execution purposes.{{cite web | url=https://julijonasurbonas.lt/euthanasia_coaster | title=Euthanasia Coaster | date=2 October 2010 | access-date=30 September 2022}} John Allen, who had been the president of the Philadelphia Toboggan Company, inspired Urbonas with his description of the "ultimate" roller coaster as one that "sends out 24 people and they all come back dead".{{cite web | url=http://www.designtaxi.com/news/34579/A-Rollercoaster-Designed-to-Kill-Humanely/?page=4 | title=A Rollercoaster Designed to Kill Humanely | publisher=Halls Create Arts Pte Ltd. | work=DesignTaxi | date=20 April 2011 | access-date=23 April 2011 | archive-date=9 September 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160909231724/http://designtaxi.com/news/34579/A-Rollercoaster-Designed-to-Kill-Humanely/?page=4 | url-status=dead}}
Design
The concept design of the layout begins with a steep-angled lift that takes riders up {{convert|500|m|ft|adj=off}} to the top (for comparison, the tallest roller coaster ever built, Kingda Ka, had a top hat that was {{convert|139|m|ft|disp=sqbr}} in height), a climb that would take a few minutes to complete, allowing the passengers to contemplate their life.{{Cite web |last=Urbonas |first=Julijonas |year=2010 |title=Julijonas Urbonas |url=https://julijonasurbonas.lt/euthanasia_coaster |website=julijonasurbonas.lt}} From there, all passengers are given the choice to exit the train, if they wish to do so. If they do not, they would have some time to say their last words.
All passengers are required to press a button to continue the ride, which then takes the train down a {{convert|500|m|abbr=on}} drop, propelling the train at speeds up to {{convert|360|km/h|mph m/s}}, close to its terminal velocity, before flattening out and speeding into the first of its seven slightly clothoid inversions. Each inversion would decrease in diameter to maintain the lethal 10 g onto passengers as the train loses speed. After a sharp right-hand turn, the train would enter a straight track that goes back to the station, where the dead are unloaded and new passengers can board.
Mechanism of action
File:Urbonas and Euthanasia Coaster.jpg in Dublin]]
The Euthanasia Coaster would kill its passengers through prolonged cerebral hypoxia, or insufficient supply of oxygen to the brain. The ride's seven inversions would inflict 10 g (g-force) on its passengers for 60 seconds, causing g-force related symptoms starting with greyout through tunnel vision to black out, and eventually g-LOC (g-force induced loss of consciousness) and death. Subsequent inversions or a second run of the rollercoaster would serve as insurance against unintentional survival of more robust passengers.
Exhibition
The Euthanasia Coaster was first shown as part of the HUMAN+ display at the Science Gallery in Dublin in 2012. The display was later named the year's flagship exhibition by the Science Gallery.{{cite web | url=https://dublin.sciencegallery.com/humanplus/ | title=HUMAN+ The Future of Our Species | publisher=Trinity College Dublin | date=1 February 2011 | access-date=24 April 2011 | archive-date=16 December 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216232121/https://dublin.sciencegallery.com/humanplus/ | url-status=dead }}{{cite web
| url=https://www.newscientist.com/blogs/culturelab/2011/04/human-forecasting-our-future.html
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110418054416/https://www.newscientist.com/blogs/culturelab/2011/04/human-forecasting-our-future.html
| archive-date=2011-04-18
| title=HUMAN+ Forecasting Our Future | publisher=Reed Business Information Ltd | work=NewScientist Culturelab | date=15 April 2011 | access-date=24 April 2011 | author=Sheridan, Cormac}} Within this theme, the coaster highlights the issues that come with life extension.{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2011/apr/22/human-plus-technologically-enhanced | title=HUMAN+ explores the technologically enhanced future of our species | publisher=Guardian News and Media Ltd | work=Notes and Theories: Dispatches from the Science Desk | date=22 April 2011 | access-date=24 April 2011 | author=Gorman, Michael John | archive-date=11 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111040236/https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2011/apr/22/human-plus-technologically-enhanced | url-status=live }} The item was also displayed at the HUMAN+ exhibit at Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona in 2015.{{cite web|title=Human+|url=http://www.cccb.org/ca/exposicions/fitxa/-humans/129032|website=CCCB|access-date=13 December 2015|archive-date=24 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151124181407/http://www.cccb.org/ca/exposicions/fitxa/-humans/129032|url-status=live}}
In pop culture
In 2012, Norwegian rock group Major Parkinson released "Euthanasia Roller Coaster", a digital single with lyrics alluding to Urbonas's Euthanasia Coaster.[https://www.ba.no/puls/major-parkinson-er-tilbake/s/1-41-6773136 "Major Parkinson er tilbake"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111040157/https://www.ba.no/puls/major-parkinson-er-tilbake/s/1-41-6773136 |date=11 January 2021 }} Bergensavisen. Bergensavisen AS 23 July 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2013
Sequoia Nagamatsu's novel How High We Go in the Dark, published on January 18, 2022, prominently features a euthanasia roller coaster for children afflicted with an incurable plague. [https://www.npr.org/2022/01/28/1075543294/pandemic-how-high-we-go-in-the-dark-review-sequoia-nagamatsu “Strap in for highs and lows with the pandemic novel 'How High We Go in the Dark'“]. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
References
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External links
{{Commons category|Euthanasia Coaster}}
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEklVDlqwbQ Computer animated simulation of the ride]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKmKLZOAT38 Urbonas explaining his design]
{{Portal bar|Lithuania}}
{{Authority control}}