Tiger Tales: A Critical Examination of the Tiger's Enclosure at the San Francisco Zoo

Given the recent tragedy involving a 350 pound Siberian Tiger and the death of teenager Carlos Souza Jr., one must ask a fundamental question: Can a tiger overcome an obstacle that is thirty-three feet away and twelve and a half feet tall? Are these dimensions sufficient enough to protect the zoo-visitors from a potential escape and/or attack? To answer these questions we use simple two-dimensional projectile motion to find the minimum velocity a tiger needs in order to clear the obstacle. With our results we conclude that it is highly likely that the tiger was able to leap over the obstacle with ease!

Erica Walker, Raza M. Syed

http://arxiv.org/abs/0801.4407

VR video via the Wii remote

Best line:

"OK—so now the tricky part—how am I going to find a way to mount the sensor bar on my head?"

Head Tracking for Desktop VR Displays using the WiiRemote