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Damage evolution in curling stones

Inspired by a visit to Kays Curling Stones in Mauchlin to pick up some Ailsa Craig granite for deformation experiments, we started wondering how the crescent-shaped cracks in striking bands of curling stones form. This seemed like an extremely elegant bridge between rock physics and a Scottish national sport. Luckily, a few months later, Derek Leung contacted me and decided to come over from Canada to do a research masters project under my and Ian Butler's supervision to explore just that. Derek was extremely autonomous and inventive, and we had lots of fun imaging colliding curling stones with high-speed cameras, amongst many other things. Derek produced this excellent short movie on his work:

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