From the top of a 45-meter drop tower, my friends are about to release a watermelon in free fall for a full three seconds. The watermelon accelerates to over a hundred kilometers per hour before smashing into the ground. Another watermelon was sprayed with a polymer coating - let’s see how it fares in the drop test. “That’s insane!” I exclaimed. “You’re kidding me!” Instead of shattering, the watermelon bounced and remained intact for the most part. “Is it broken inside?” I asked. “Yeah, it is,” came the reply. “It’s definitely slushy.”