Boeing goes high-tech for Wi-Fi testing, brings in a sack of potatoes

In the latest assault on human self-worth, it turns out that all it takes to replace any of us is a stroll down the produce aisle. When Boeing researched ways to improve Wi-Fi signals on its planes, the expense and difficulty in hiring actual people to replicate in-flight conditions was prohibitive. So engineers hit on the idea of filling the seats with potatoes, which absorb and reflect radio wave signals in much the same way humans do, and don't require restroom breaks. Now, if only they could guarantee we'd be seated next to a sack of spuds on our next flight instead of a screaming baby. [Source]

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