Transport
Discover facts about transport. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Transport
Air Force One has two full kitchens
One kitchen handles a presidential flight about as well as one tiny stove handles a banquet: badly. Two full galleys give the crew room to prepare and serve…
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Why houseboats bob like corks in rough water
A houseboat floats because its hull pushes water aside; waves lift that floating hull, then gravity brings it down again. A broad hull helps resist tipping,…
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Lindbergh packed five sandwiches for the Atlantic
For his 1927 solo crossing, Charles Lindbergh carried a small supply of food while spending more than 33 hours flying the Spirit of St. Louis. There was no…
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Sleep on a ferry and wake in another country
An overnight ferry keeps moving while you sleep, carrying you and your luggage across a sea border before breakfast. Book a cabin, shut the door and let the…
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Car owner manuals are incredibly thick and mostly ignored
Modern cars pack in enough systems to fill pages with explanations, warnings, and maintenance steps. The manual is thick because the vehicle is complicated;…
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Goodyear didn't invent the blimp
Blimps were already floating before Goodyear got into the airship business. Unlike rigid dirigibles, their gas-filled envelopes hold their shape with internal…
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Why tanker trucks have holes in their walls
Those holes belong to baffles inside the tank. They break up the surge of liquid when the truck brakes or turns, while letting the load flow through the tank.…
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Why submarine crews share the same bunk
Crew members rotate sleep schedules so tightly that when one person leaves a bunk, the next sailor can climb right in.
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Why French shepherds once walked on stilts
The marshy Landes region was hard to cross on foot, so shepherds strapped on stilts to stay above wet ground and spot their flocks over scrub. Sheep-watching…
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Power window switches moved to door panels for convenience
Putting window switches on the doors places each control beside the glass it moves. The layout is easy to read at a glance: reach for the window, find its…
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Bouncing riverbed rocks travel via saltation
Water nudges a riverbed rock, lifts it, then lets it land farther downstream. That hop-and-skip motion is saltation: the river moves stones by bouncing them,…
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Why lipstick passes as a solid at airport security
Lipstick is made with waxes and oils that hold their shape, so it counts as a solid rather than a pourable liquid at security. The color gets a free pass…
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Your toll pass may be tracking your commute
When a toll reader detects your pass, it records the trip for billing. A string of those records traces where you travel and when, turning a device designed…
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The wartime messages carried by pigeons
A pigeon knows how to return to its home loft, so soldiers carried birds to the front with tiny message capsules attached to their legs. When radios failed or…
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Soldiers inspired McDonald's first drive-through
At Fort Huachuca in Arizona, soldiers were not supposed to leave their vehicles off base while wearing fatigues. A McDonald's in nearby Sierra Vista added a…
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Ankara cable car network reduces traffic via aerial gondolas
Ankara’s gondolas carry passengers above the street on a moving cable, bypassing traffic lights, queues and gridlock. The commute gets its own lane in the…
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Kick sleds rely on kicking the ice with one foot
One foot rides the sled’s runner while the other kicks against the ice to push it forward. The kick sled turns a winter sidewalk into a scooter lane, provided…
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Moving truck pull-out ramps store beneath the floor
The ramp slides out from beneath the truck when loading begins, then tucks away under the floor for the drive. That keeps it attached without taking up cargo…
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Clipless pedals are the ones you clip into
The missing clips are the old cages that wrapped around a rider's toes. A clipless pedal replaces them with a cleat under the shoe that locks into a…
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Quad skates feature two distinct parallel wheel axles
Quad skates put four wheels at the corners of two axles, giving the foot a broad, steady base. Inline skates ask for balance on a narrow line; quads give your…
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Why cars got a storage box between the seats
As front seats shifted from one long bench to separate seats, the gap between them became useful real estate. A console filled it with storage, an armrest,…
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Some traffic lights change their schedule while you're driving
Adaptive signal systems use traffic sensors to adjust green time as demand changes. A surge of cars need not wait for the same fixed cycle used on a quiet…
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Telehandlers are forklifts with long booms
The long boom reaches over obstacles and lifts cargo to height, while the forks do the familiar forklift job at the end. It’s a forklift with a telescoping…
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In Russia, road grime can turn a license plate into a legal problem
The relevant rule concerns whether the registration plate is readable, not whether the paintwork looks freshly washed. Mud across the identifying characters…
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