Thank you to Munk Pack for  supporting today’s episode!

Munk Pack offers low-sugar bars which are  plant-based, gluten free, and keto friendly. Click the link in the description  and use code “scishow” to receive 20% off your first purchase of any Munk Pack product! [♪ INTRO] When you’re using a table saw,  there are just milliseconds between you having all your fingers and… not.

In fact, every year, tens of  thousands of people in the U. S. are maimed by these tools. Human reflexes are just not fast  enough to snatch a hand out of the way if something goes wrong.

Which is why some incredible safety  mechanisms have been invented to help you remain one with your body parts.   Now, all sorts of saws and other  tools come with significant risks, but table saws are especially dangerous. Like, they’re responsible for more accidental  amputations than any other consumer product. And it’s easy to see why, when you  consider that the average table saw rotates around 70 times a  second, and it has enough teeth to make a fresh cut every 370 microseconds.   But these tools are still really popular because  they’re extremely useful for woodworking.

So, saw manufacturers have gone to  great lengths to make them safer.   One of the greatest advances came in  the year 1999, with the invention of a system called SawStop that can  actually detect human flesh, sort of. Basically, it’s a safety system that can  tell the difference between flesh and wood. And it works thanks to one key fact: Your body conducts electricity,  but dry wood does not.

So, the flesh-sensing technology consists  of a weak current that runs through the saw blade, plus a sensor that registers  the amount of current flowing through it.  As the blade cuts into something like wood, which doesn’t conduct electricity,  the current flows uninterrupted. But the moment it encounters  something like a finger, the flesh absorbs some of the electrical signal. When that happens, the sensor  detects a change in current, and in under a thousandth of  a second, it stops the blade.

It does that by triggering a spring,  which shoves a brake into the blade. It’s not like slamming the brakes on a car,  where friction brings the wheels to a stop. There’s no time for that.

It’s been described as stopping a speeding  car by dropping a wall in front of it. Which wouldn’t be safe if this  was a car, but you get the idea.   It’s an extremely violent maneuver, but  it stops the blade within microseconds. If you were the one with a finger on the blade, you wouldn’t even be able to see  this incredible feature kick in.  But afterwards, you would still see  your finger attached to the rest of you… So, that’s a plus.

In the process, the brake cartridge gets  crushed like the crumple zone of a car. The blade gets ruined too. But the finger gets saved.

This technology has been tested plenty of times, on hot dogs and even the  company founder’s own fingers. But, and I cannot emphasize this  enough, the vast majority of saws still don’t have this feature,  because it remains proprietary. So if you’re around one of these saws,  please assume it does not stop this way.

Seriously, do not stick your hand  in a saw because you saw some man on the internet saying that it might be safe. And of course, no matter what safety  features your tools might have, nothing can take the place of basic  caution and a little common sense. But what’s amazing about this technology  is that if you relied on your reflexes to stop a table saw from doing  damage, it would be too late.

Fortunately, some simple physics principles  can fill that gap… and save some limbs. And then you can use those  limbs to eat Munk Pack bars! This video is supported by Munk Pack In the Summertime, sometimes all you want  is to treat yourself to a salt water taffy.

But if all you’re craving  is the taste of the beach, you can treat yourself to Munk  Pack’s coconut almond dark chocolate keto nut and seed bar without  coating your mouth in sugar. Each one has 1 gram of sugar or less! And they’re still delicious and chewy  just like your childhood favorites.

So you don’t even need to  go to the boardwalk anymore to satisfy those sweet and salty summer cravings. MunkPack delivers their bars  directly to your doorstep, making everyday feel like a beach vacation. On your first purchase of ANY Munk Pack product, you can get 20% off by visiting  Munkpack.com and entering code scishow at checkout, or by clicking the  link in the description down below!

And your purchase is backed  with a 100% happiness guarantee. So if you don’t like it for any reason,  Munk Pack will exchange the product or refund your money, whichever you prefer. Thanks to Munk Pack for supporting  this video and thank you for watching! [♪ OUTRO]