Transport
Discover facts about transport. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Transport
When sack racing was serious Victorian sport
For some reason, nineteenth-century society decided that placing both feet inside a dirty potato bag and vigorously hopping toward a finish line was prime…
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St. Bernards never carried those famous barrels
The iconic image of a massive St. Bernard bounding through the snow with alcohol strapped to its neck is a total fabrication. It started from a single…
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How wooden shoes gave us the word sabotage
The word sabotage actually comes from the French word sabot, meaning wooden shoe. Angry workers unhappy with working conditions would hurl their heavy…
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People have been playing leapfrog for centuries
Vaulting over the back of a hunched-over friend seems like a silly playground activity, but historical texts show people doing it centuries ago. It is…
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Why modern ocean liners feel like floating malls
Modern ocean liners have entirely abandoned the classic romance of the sea in favor of cramming chaotic outlet stores, mediocre entertainment, and go-kart…
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Why horses need metal shoes
Wild equines run on soft dirt and wear their hooves down naturally. Once humans forced them to carry heavy loads over hard cobblestones, their keratin feet…
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Cruise ships put pools on top of the ocean
Instead of appreciating the actual majestic ocean actively surrounding them, passengers overwhelmingly prefer to lazily bob in a small, artificially generated…
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Why the bear crawl exhausts you so quickly
The bear crawl keeps the knees completely off the ground, forcing the entire body weight onto the shoulders and quads. Drill sergeants absolutely adore it…
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Why sneakers are called sneakers
Before rubber soles, leather and wooden shoes clacked loudly on pavement. The new rubber bottoms were so incredibly quiet that suspicious individuals could…
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Inflatable bouncy hoppers were highly unstable toys
The space hopper was basically a giant rubber balloon with two tiny handles. Kids were supposed to sit on it and bounce around, but mostly it just resulted in…
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Why babies crawl backward before they can go forward
Infant arms develop strength much faster than infant legs. When they first try to push themselves around the living room floor, they accidentally shove their…
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Why tractors fill their tires with liquid
Air is simply too light when you need massive downward force to drag giant metal plows through thick mud. Farmers literally pump hundreds of gallons of…
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Motorcycles use dual throttle cables to prevent sticking
Having your engine stubbornly rev at maximum power while trying to stop is a terrifying flaw that requires a dedicated pull-back wire. While one cable pulls…
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Submarines manage buoyancy by flooding massive tanks
Sinking is usually a bad thing, unless you do it on purpose with highly controlled internal flooding. To dive beneath the waves, valves open to let seawater…
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Cruise ship swimming pools use wave damping baffles
Nobody wants a rogue tsunami in the wading pool when the captain takes a sharp turn. Sloshing thousands of gallons of water side-to-side would violently eject…
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Why riding a camel feels like being on a rolling ship
The creature confusingly moves both legs on one side simultaneously, forcing the unfortunate rider to rock aggressively just to remain seated. Unlike other…
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Why camels have feet like fleshy pancakes
Sinking deeply into the scorching dunes is deadly, so their bizarre feet squash out like fleshy pancakes to stay right on top. They possess two massive toes…
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Why astronauts sleep strapped to spacecraft walls
Floating around and bumping your head while unconscious is severely frowned upon in orbit. Without downward force, lying on a bed is impossible, so astronauts…
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Tractors articulate in the middle for nimble steering
Turning wheels is for amateurs, pivoting the entire machine exactly in half is how you navigate a slippery field. Heavy-duty farming vessels place a massive…
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How bubbles help icebreakers slide through ice
Turning the freezing ocean into a giant jacuzzi helps the steel slide right through the frozen wasteland. High-volume air compressors pump thick streams of…
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Motorcycles kill the engine if the kickstand is down
Riding off with a metal stick dragging on the ground is a fantastic way to violently catapult yourself into a ditch. To save riders from their own…
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Fire engines pump specialized foam to smother flames
Water is decent, but covering a raging chemical fire in a massive blanket of bubbly foam works significantly better. Tanks of chemical concentrate are…
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How fire engines draw water from lakes
When hydrants mysteriously vanish, dropping a massive suction hose into a dirty pond is a highly effective way to keep the pressure flowing. Powerful internal…
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Why buses kneel at the curb
Making folks climb a small mountain just to get on a municipal ride is terrible, so the entire chassis bows down. The operator triggers specialized air…
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