Drug Catapult Found At US-Mexico Border

suraj.sun writes "According to a Fox News report: 'Drug smugglers trying to get marijuana across the Arizona-Mexico border apparently are trying a new approach — a medieval catapult, capable of launching 4.4 pounds of marijuana at a time. National Guard troops operating a remote video surveillance system at the Naco Border Patrol Station say they observed several people preparing a catapult and launching packages over the International Border fence last Friday evening. The 3-yard tall catapult was found about 20 yards from the US border on a flatbed towed by a sports utility vehicle, according to a Mexican army officer with the 45th military zone in the border state of Sonora.'"

Re:Trebuchet

[msauve]

Your attempt at being pedantic fails. A trebuchet is just a specific type of catapult. The device is in fact a catapult.

Re:Yards?

[lgw]

A yard is a perfectly cromunlent extension to the Furlong-Firkin-Fortnight system (the One True Sytem of measurement). While a "link" (or millifurlong) is the preferred unit for formal surveying and land measuement, a "yard" (or 1/220th of a furlong) is fine for casual use.

Re:Next you will see

[sglewis100]

people being launched using this.. Just wait.

MythBusters already covered that [kwc.org].

Re:Trebuchet

[Nefarious Wheel]

Your attempt at being pedantic fails. A trebuchet is just a specific type of catapult. The device is in fact a catapult.

You are being insufficiently discriminating, sorry. They weren't classed as such, and medieval distinctions between catapults and trebuchets were quite distinct. You had catapults (also called "Onagers", or "rocking donkeys"), ballistae (God's very own crossbow, generally with two distinct arms, from which we derive the term "ballistics") and the various forms of trebuchets, the largest of which could throw a boulder the size of a small cottage. You would no more call them all "catapults" then you would say a strip-miner's Terex load carrier "just a form of car".

So there! (insert Bronx cheer>

Re:You say "catapult"

[meerling]

Incorrect, they can easily have the exact same firing characteristics. The difference is it's easier to build more powerful trebuchets than catapults, and they can often be readied faster as well if the designers planned for it.

The height of the "trajectory arc" is completely based on the release angle and force. The method used to impart moment to the swinging launch arm has no bearing on the trajectory. It could be a freaking hydraulic ram swinging that launch arm, so long as the release angle and force are the same, you get the exact same result.