Every time I go diving with my father, he reminds me: “Coconuts kill more people each year than . . .” Further, a reporter the other day indicated that the annual number of coconut-related deaths was 150! I bet many Divester readers have their own fantastical “coconut conspiracy” statistics. Well, I hate to burst your bubbles, but it turns out that statistic is not entirely accurate. According to The Straight Dope, the figure was fabricated by a travel insurance company.
However, a researcher named Peter Barss wrote “Injuries Due To Falling Coconuts,” for which he received an Ig Noble Award in 2001. Among the more amazing claims Barss makes is: “Since mature coconut palms may have a height of 24 up to 35 meters and an unhusked coconut may weigh 1 to 4 kg, blows to the head of a force exceeding 1 metric ton are possible.” (Un)fortunately, Barss only notes one coconut-related death during his residency in PNG. So although it seems the statistic could be true, it probably isn’t.
