Why don’t they design airplane tires to spin on landing (e.g. using fan blades) to reduce tire wear?
Great question. Years ago, I asked that exact question to someone at Goodyear Aircraft Tires. I was sure no one else had ever thought about it and I…
What exactly happened to the Russian space dog Laika?
The story they told was a lie. For decades, the world believed Laika, the Moscow street dog. Died peacefully in orbit a week after her launch in 1957. The…
Why do pilots seem to stabilize engines at around 50% thrust before pushing to full takeoff power?
The 777 engines are simply massive, with the GE-90’s generating upto 115,000lbs of thrust, per side. When cleared for take-off we run the engines to 55% N1 and…
Why aren’t car windshields made out of transparent aluminum?
When I read the question, my first impulse was to say “price.” But I didn’t really know how much aluminium oxynitride costs; that was just a hunch. So…
What if Tsar Bomba was dropped in the middle of the United States?
The geographic centre of the (edit: contiguous 48 states of the) US is a little north of a small burg called Lebanon, Kansas. A Tsar Bomba at operational yield would…
If you run a gasoline engine indefinitely with unlimited fuel, what will be the first cause of failure?
I ran numerous stationary engines for a water company years ago. We had a number 455 CI Oldsmobile engines sitting out in an open field running irrigation water…
If Earth orbited a blue supergiant star at the habitable zone, would going to the beach be a bad idea no matter what? Would people get sunburned within seconds?
No. Sunburn would not be a risk. Ozone layers don’t just shield against ultraviolet radiation, they are also created by ultraviolet. Specifically, ozone layers are created by higher…
Latest Updates on Comet 3I/ATLAS: Is It an Alien Spacecraft?
This year, we welcome a rare visitor to our skies—the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS! As the third interstellar object ever discovered by humanity, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime encounter. Yet some…
Why do semi-truck drivers leave their trucks running for long periods of time without turning them off?
This is my truck. I basically live in it. Behind the driver’s seat is what appears on the outside to be some sort of fairing. Well, it’s shaped…
If a 40 kiloton nuke appeared on a Nimitz carrier deck and exploded, would it sink?
Forty kilotons on the deck? The fireball of the nuke of that size is 350 meters. A Nimitz-class carrier is about as long. Nimitz-class carrier It depends a bit…