Transport
Discover facts about transport. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Transport
Air Force One has two full kitchens
When you are leading the free world, reheating frozen meals simply will not do. The heavily modified presidential Boeing 747 features two separate galleys…
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Why houseboats bob like corks in rough water
Maximizing interior living space means entirely ditching the deep, wave-slicing hull of a normal vessel. While a completely flat bottom allows for great…
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Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic with five sandwiches
Packing light is one thing, but crossing the Atlantic with a lunchbox takes sheer unhinged confidence. When Lindbergh made his historic 1927 solo flight from…
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Sleep on a ferry and wake in another country
While they look like massive party ships, these vessels are just practical overnight buses for exhausted travelers. You board in one country, sleep in a tiny…
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Car owner manuals are incredibly thick and mostly ignored
It is perhaps the most mass-produced, utterly unread piece of literature in human history. Stuffed unceremoniously into a leatherette binder, this massive…
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Goodyear didn't invent the blimp
We naturally associate giant floating sports billboards with the Goodyear tire corporation, but they were essentially just aggressive copycats. The rigid…
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Why tanker trucks have holes in their walls
Turns out that letting thousands of gallons of heavy liquid slam forward when hitting the brakes is a terrible idea. Internal walls with giant holes, known as…
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Why submarine crews share the same bunk
Personal space does not exist at the bottom of the ocean. Crews on deep-sea vessels rotate sleep schedules so tightly that as soon as one person rolls out of…
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Why French shepherds once walked on stilts
Stilts were not originally a clown accessory for entertaining crowds. They were highly practical wooden extensions used by herders to comfortably traverse…
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Power window switches moved to door panels for convenience
We now entirely take for granted that the window button belongs near our elbow. However, for decades, manufacturers stubbornly placed massive banks of heavy…
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Bouncing riverbed rocks travel via saltation
Water does not just push rocks; it makes them hop continuously. This process involves stones striking the bottom and launching others forward, proving that…
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Why lipstick passes as a solid at airport security
Even though it melts in a hot car, security rigidly classifies your favorite makeup as a harmless solid. You can pack an entire suitcase full of bright red…
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Your toll pass may be tracking your commute
Those little plastic transponders on your windshield might save you from digging for quarters, but they also perfectly log exactly when and where you travel.…
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The wartime messages carried by pigeons
Before the internet, society entrusted its most classified military intelligence to a bird that regularly eats garbage. During conflicts like the Siege of…
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The drive-through was invented for soldiers
Our sacred ritual of shouting into a static-filled speaker for fries has military origins. In 1947, Red's Giant Hamburg in Missouri opened the first…
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Ankara cable car network reduces traffic via aerial gondolas
Sitting in endless traffic is infuriating, so this city added a massive transit line directly above the gridlock. People calmly float past the jammed…
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Kick sleds rely on kicking the ice with one foot
It is essentially a chair attached to long metal runners. Popular in Nordic countries, you stand on one runner and frantically kick the frozen ground with…
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Moving truck pull-out ramps store beneath the floor
Dragging a heavy ramp out from the depths of a truck bed is entirely too tedious. Instead, sliding ramps are suspended beneath the chassis in their own little…
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Why clipless pedals require you to clip in
Hook: The cycling world decided to name a pedal that explicitly requires clips 'clipless'. Explanation: The term originates from the removal of old-school toe…
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Quad skates feature two distinct parallel wheel axles
The classic retro sliding shoe prioritizes a solid foundation over sleek aerodynamics. With a pair of wheels in the front and a pair in the back, quad skates…
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Why cars got a storage box between the seats
Necessity is the mother of incredibly overpriced storage boxes. Originally, automobiles featured massive, continuous bench seats that stretched from door to…
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You may spend six months of life waiting at red lights
Your most precious non-renewable resource—time—is being siphoned away by automated colored bulbs. Traffic studies suggest that the average driver spends about…
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Telehandlers are forklifts with long booms
A regular forklift is utterly useless when the load needs to go onto a third-story scaffold. These beasts combine the forks of a warehouse lift with the…
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In Russia, a filthy car can earn you a fine
In a country not exactly known for its pristine year-round weather, letting your license plate become obscured by road grime is a legitimate offense. While…
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