The Mountain helps scientists understand gravity, and other tidbits

In 2015, strongman and Game of Thrones star Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane) broke a world record by staggering five steps with a 1,430 pound log on his back, like so:

Fun.

Now, Business Insider reports that not only was this feat objectively awesome, it was also scientifically useful. A team of physicists from the University of Zagreb in Croatia have used Björnsson’s to set an upper limit on the gravitational pull that the human body can withstand, and used it to figure out the kinds of planets humans could reasonably colonize in the future. You see, while the human body is a pretty hardy piece of engineering — the tibia could withstand 90 times Earth’s normal gravity before shattering — it can only take so many Newtons of force trying to drag it to the center of a planet before it gives out. And having to move around adds a whole extra layer of difficulty. The bigger a planet is, the more gravitational pull it exerts.

RELATED PRODUCT

Hand of the King Pin by Noble Collection from Game of Thrones

Buy Now!

Buy Now!

Björnsson, being quite a bit stronger than your average guy on the street, could probably move around on a planet with gravity 4.6 times that of Earth’s, the scientists concluded. For the rest of us, the most gravity we’re ever likely to withstand exists on a planet three to four sizes that of Earth, and we could only set foot on a place like that with training beforehand.

The scientists’ research is set to be published in The Physics Teacher. A spinoff starring the Mountain in space will follow. Maybe.

Okay, that’s a lot of science talk. Here’s a Louis Vuitton ad featuring Chloe Grace Moretz, Laura Harrier, and Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) pretending they’re Charlie’s Angels or something:

Solid palette cleanser, that.

We have a few bits of Maisie Williams news. After playing Arya Stark for eight seasons, Williams is getting into the business world with Daisie, a social media app designed to connect artists, actors, writers and other creatives with each other, and with people who may be interested in investing in or promoting their work. “I just think that it’s a shame that there’s such a lack of opportunities for so many people,” she explained to Business Insider…in a different article. “Particularly people from where I came from… just had this fluke way in [to the business]. I used to audition for stage schools and I got in and I got 40% funding and then I couldn’t go because 40% still wasn’t even enough for me to even dream of going.”

"Share what you have and share your gift with the world. I think in order to be successful you do need to open up and let people in and be critiqued and grow and learn and explore your arts."

There’s also some buzz around Williams’ upcoming movie New Mutants, an X-Men spinoff with a horror bent. Williams will play Wolfsbane, who is pretty much a werewolf.

See? Horror. With 80 superhero movies coming out every year you have to stand out somehow. New Mutants has its gimmick.

Unfortunately, the production has been plagued by problems. It was originally supposed to come out this year, but got pushed back to August 2019 to make time for reshoots. And according to an interview with producer Simon Kinberg in Collider, the rating is still in flux.

"It’s the kind of movie that could go R, or it could be a hard PG-13. As I was saying before in terms of subgenres or the genre, it is obviously teased as a horror film, and most horror films these days are R-rated, but it stars a very young cast, so we’ll see. It really is what the movie wants to be. The studio is open to either rating… Traditionally, superhero movies are PG-13 other than Logan and the Deadpool movies, and generally, horror films are R-rated, so we’ll see where this one falls. It is a very scary, edgy movie."

I know movie studios fear that not enough people will see their movies if they’re rated ‘R,’ but it’s just as dangerous to sanitize them and make them boring. Also, IT was rated ‘R,’ starred kids younger than the ones in New Mutants, and made approximately all the money in the world, so…

Finally, we’re in the midst of New York Comic Con, where there is Game of Thrones merch aplenty on the show floor. A sampling:

Sophie Turner has her own panel at the event, where we’re sure she’ll be peppered with all manner of questions about season 8. If anyone reading this is there, enjoy!

To stay up to date on everything Game of Thrones, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Watch Game of Thrones or Succession for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels