San Diego, California. August 25, 2026 (ABF Newswire) University of California San Diego (UCSD) mechanical engineering student, Jeremiah Walker, developed a modern take on an ancient siege weapon, the trebuchet. Made of wood, powered by a bunch of rubber bands, with a specially designed arm that can withstand the forces, it's able to sling small projectiles faster than the speed of sound, over 770 miles per hour. It's also a blast at parties.

During a beach house party on August 23, Jeremiah brought his contraption at the request of the hosts. On the surface, his device slings small projectiles faster than some bullets, which is pretty cool. That the setup requires a bit of theatrics to crank the cluster of rubber bands to a predetermined length and culminates with a satisfying report when the payload breaks the sound barrier, is the draw. It's not hard to imagine how a group of drunk college kids would react to such an experience and why he and his project are popular at parties. Due to the dangerous nature of launching small objects that fast, the vast ocean is also key as it provides a direction to aim the trebuchet. Thus, a beach house plus party plus Jeremiah's trebuchet is fun for everyone. And sometimes legendary.

During the evening's live fire attempt, the trebuchet was positioned on the deck and aimed squarely West toward the Pacific ocean. A 10 gram steel ball bearing was the payload. At supersonic speeds, that small hunk of metal turns into a high-velocity projectile which can penetrate concrete. Jeremiah likes to make the destructive nature known because sometimes drunk people need boundaries. Plus, destruction isn't the show. The anticipation during setup and final crack from the projectile breaking the sound barrier is enough to bring inebriated onlookers to cheers.

This particular time had an aiming malfunction though the device functioned spectacularly. Right at launch when Jeremiah was tugging on the cord to release tension, a party guest knocked the device's swivel platform a few degrees East which caused the trajectory to be closer to inland than anyone expected. The thick bands quickly contracted, the arm spun, and the ball bearing blew past the sound barrier to an unknown destination inland, but not the Pacific.

"I never get tired of hearing that crack of sound," a smiling Jeremiah said.

Though the ball bearing's fate was unknown to the party goers, the spectacle was all that mattered. Down the beach, about an hour after the launch, police were called to an ocean-side mansion a mile from the party. The projectile ended up embedded in the patio wall of a wealthy tech entrepreneur's home. The man's body was found in front of the wall with a hole through his head caused by the bearing's entry through his left eye and out the back of the skull. A police incident report concluded the accidental cause of death was massive trauma from the ballistic ball from an incredibly (un)lucky shot.

The deceased was a former software engineer who specialzed in engagement algorithms at a prominent social media company before starting his own venture. His new gambling company was lauded by venture capitalists for it's gambling app that, with the help of AI, learns the player's habits. The more the mark uses the platform, the better it gets at presenting customized betting options and messaging tailored to each user. This maximizes house winnings by over encouraging many small wins and downplaying larger losses to keep the user engaged and spending money. Investors love it's addictiveness.

Back at the party, Jeremiah admits there's a limitation with his project. "There's always some drunk knucklehead who asks if we can launch an empty keg. No, it's not able to launch an empty keg."