I have great respect for Stan Lee and his show. Most of the people are truly remarkable, but the high diver was a crock. Brave, dangerous, yes; but superhuman? NO. Anyone with an understanding of basic physics and simple math could do it. Had he dived into a deeper pool with rigid sides, he would have been hurt or killed; it would have been like a belly flop on concrete. His pool was small, shallow and had inflatable sides. water does not compress, so when he hit the water, it pushed against the inflated sides, then splashed out over the top. He simply used the displacement of water to slow his deceleration to a safer G force. The same idea is used in the big orange, water filled barrels on the freeway. Several years ago someone invented a bladder type bumper with pop plugs to displace water in a crash; but at 8 LBS per gallon they were too heavy for fuel economy.
