Art:Euthanasia Coaster

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Short description: Hypothetical passenger-killing ride

Template:Infobox roller coaster The Euthanasia Coaster is a hypothetical steel roller coaster and euthanasia device designed with the sole purpose of killing its passengers.[1] 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",[2] either for euthanasia or execution purposes.[3] 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".[4]

Design

The concept design of the layout begins with a steep-angled lift that takes riders up 500 metres (1,600 ft) to the top[1], a climb that would take a few minutes to complete, allowing the passengers to contemplate their life. [3][5] (For comparison, the tallest roller coaster ever built, Falcons Flight, has a max height of 163 m (535 ft).) [6]) From there, all passengers are given the choice to exit the train if they wish to do so. If they do not, they will 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 500 m (1,600 ft) drop, propelling the train at speeds up to 360 kilometres per hour (220 mph; 100 m/s), close to its terminal velocity, before flattening out and speeding into the first of its seven slightly clothoid inversions. [3] 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.[3]

Mechanism of action

Urbonas (left) and Euthanasia Coaster at HUMAN+ display at the Science Gallery in Dublin

The Euthanasia Coaster would kill its passengers through prolonged cerebral hypoxia, or insufficient supply of oxygen to the brain.[1] 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.[3] Subsequent inversions or a second run of the rollercoaster would serve as insurance against unintentional survival of more robust passengers.[3]

Exhibition

The Euthanasia Coaster was first shown as part of the HUMAN+ display at the Science Gallery in Dublin in 2012.[1] The display was later named the year's flagship exhibition by the Science Gallery.[7][8] Within this theme, the coaster highlights the issues that come with life extension.[9] The item was also displayed at the HUMAN+ exhibit at Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona in 2015.[10]

In 2012, Norwegian rock group Major Parkinson released "Euthanasia Roller Coaster", a digital single with lyrics alluding to Urbonas's Euthanasia Coaster.[11]

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.[12]

The 2023 television series Mrs. Davis features a roller coaster as a method of ending one's life.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Solon, Olivia (6 April 2011). "The Future of the Human Species Explored". WIRED Science. Condé Nast Publications. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/human-plus-science-gallery. 
  2. ↑ Lamar, Cyriaqe (18 April 2011). "The Euthanasia Coaster, the Last Roller Coaster You'll Ever Ride". Gawker Media. https://io9.gizmodo.com/5793305/the-euthanasia-coaster-the-last-roller-coaster-youll-ever-ride. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 "Euthanasia Coaster". 2 October 2010. https://julijonasurbonas.lt/euthanasia_coaster. 
  4. ↑ "A Rollercoaster Designed to Kill Humanely". DesignTaxi. Halls Create Arts Pte Ltd.. 20 April 2011. http://www.designtaxi.com/news/34579/A-Rollercoaster-Designed-to-Kill-Humanely/?page=4. 
  5. ↑ Urbonas, Julijonas (2010). "Julijonas Urbonas". https://julijonasurbonas.lt/euthanasia_coaster. 
  6. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Falcons Flight". https://rcdb.com/21315.htm. 
  7. ↑ "HUMAN+ The Future of Our Species". Trinity College Dublin. 1 February 2011. https://dublin.sciencegallery.com/humanplus/. 
  8. ↑ Sheridan, Cormac (15 April 2011). "HUMAN+ Forecasting Our Future". NewScientist Culturelab. Reed Business Information Ltd. https://www.newscientist.com/blogs/culturelab/2011/04/human-forecasting-our-future.html. 
  9. ↑ Gorman, Michael John (22 April 2011). "HUMAN+ explores the technologically enhanced future of our species". Notes and Theories: Dispatches from the Science Desk. Guardian News and Media Ltd. https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2011/apr/22/human-plus-technologically-enhanced. 
  10. ↑ "Human+". http://www.cccb.org/ca/exposicions/fitxa/-humans/129032. 
  11. ↑ "Major Parkinson er tilbake" Bergensavisen. Bergensavisen AS 23 July 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2013
  12. ↑ “Strap in for highs and lows with the pandemic novel 'How High We Go in the Dark'“. Retrieved 26 August 2024.



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