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Wallpapering a Curved Ceiling

Explore a personal retinal detachment experience filled with physics insights and the role of gas bubbles in eye surgery.

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Well into my household's Year of Sensory Input Issues, my husband is dealing with a detached retina. It's been a sometimes frightening experience -- for example, did you know that if you have to leave an international flight en route, that the customs agent will come out and clear your passport on the ambulance? And that in spite of their stinginess with blankets and pretzels, United Airlines really can come through in a crisis? Annoying as it's been, the experience has been filled with Cool Applications of Physics, which helps me pass the time. A retinal detachment involves the retina (which lines the back of your eye like wallpaper) sagging away from the back of the eye (as your wallpaper might do in a damp bathroom). Now, if you've ever tried to wallpaper a curved surface, you know it's not easy to get some intrinsically flat thing to stick smoothly ...

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