What do you usually think to yourself when you watch Attack on Titan? I’m usually thinking, “wow, that’s brutal,” and, “oh I don’t feel good.” But since season two of the smash-hit anime has dropped, I’ve been thinking about something else, something you’ve asked me to science since I started this show – would using so-called “3D Maneuver Gear” be just as dangerous as fighting titans?

In my latest Because Science, I’m taking a look at the Survey Corps.’ 3DMG. It’s certainly deadly to titans – the equipment allows teen-sized humans to whip around and across huge distances to score a killing strike on the napes of monster necks – but what would using 3DMG do to the user’s body?

The human body evolved under Earth’s gravity, and so everything about our bodies is built for 1G, or an acceleration of 9.81 meters per second per second. Accelerate faster than this, and bad things start happening. Move too quickly, and your blood will literally get heavier and either pool in your feet or rush into your brain. Either is bad. These effects depend on how many Gs you pull, and in which direction you pull them. It looks like the Survey Corps. are putting themselves under extreme G-loads when fighting titans, so based on what we know about acceleration and deceleration tolerances, would their 3DMG be deadly for them too?

Watch my latest episode above to find out!

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