Myth busting "The Swiss Family Robinson": Would a coconut grenade really work?
The 1960 movie "The Swiss Family Robinson" is a Disney classic, but with farfetched and unbelievable scenes like the New Switzerland race that includes an elephant, an ostrich, and a zebra, it can be hard to take this movie seriously. In an attempt to bring a dose of reality to this fanciful film, two YouTubers has tested one of the movie's most inventive weapons: the coconut bomb. Do not try this at home.
According to Darren Orf for Popular Mechanics: "Grant Thompson makes three grenades—filled with varying degrees of charge—to test the hypothesis, and tops them off with paper and sugar fuses. Turns out not only can you make a grenade out of a coconut, but you can make a pretty damn good grenade out of a coconut."
About the Author
Alexis GajewskiAlexis Gajewski
Senior Content Strategist
Alexis Gajewski is a manufacturing writer and editor with nearly 20 years of experience covering the people, practices, and technologies that keep industrial facilities running. For more than a decade, she served as Senior Content Strategist for Plant Services, creating content for plant managers, engineers, and maintenance professionals on a variety of industrial topics.
During her tenure, Alexis worked to develop the brand’s digital strategy and helped launch and produce Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast. She also created The Lighter Side of Manufacturing, a weekly blog that explored the inventive and sometimes humorous side of the industry.
Alexis co-founded Influential Women in Manufacturing, a recognition program that honored 49 women in its first two years, earned an industry award for Best Product Launch, and received a proclamation from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and a commendation from U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth.
She also led newsroom operations and development at a large media company where she set editorial standards, developed training curriculum, and helped support AI adoption for more than 150 editors across 80+ brands spanning manufacturing, industrial processing, automation, and more.
Additionally, Alexis works as a freelance writer and editor, and her areas of interest include continuous improvement, the skilled workforce, and the role of emerging technology on the plant floor.
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