Transport
Discover facts about transport. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Transport
Pollen relies entirely on wind for blind fertilization
Wind-pollinated plants release clouds of pollen and let the breeze carry grains to female flowers. Most grains miss; the plant’s strategy is volume, turning…
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How planes land in strong crosswinds
On approach, pilots can point the nose into the wind while keeping the aircraft's actual path aligned with the runway. Near touchdown they use the aircraft's…
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The space shuttle landed like a giant glider
The shuttle returned through the atmosphere without powered flight available for a go-around. Pilots managed its remaining speed and altitude to reach the…
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A failed contest ended with a million-dollar rainstorm
In 2023, Czech entertainer Kamil Bartošek had a helicopter drop a million dollars in banknotes for a crowd near Lysá nad Labem. The money had originally been…
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Military tanks steer by stopping treads on one side
A tank turns by slowing or stopping the tread on one side while the other keeps moving. The faster side walks the hull around; the tank doesn’t steer so much…
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Cells aggressively swallowing nearby objects
A cell wraps its membrane around a nearby particle, pinches it off into a bubble, then digests what’s inside. The process is called phagocytosis: cellular…
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China's ART looks like a tram but steers on tires
The linked vehicle follows a virtual track using electronic guidance and coordinated steering across its axles. Rubber tires replace steel wheels and rails,…
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American street names are heavily duplicated across the map
Thousands of towns picked from the same small basket of street names—Main, Oak, Washington—then drew their maps independently. The result is address roulette…
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A dropped flask helped invent the laminated windshield
A film of plastic left inside the flask kept the glass from breaking into shards when it fell. Bénédictus realized that laminated glass could help protect…
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Why submarine control rooms turn red
Red light preserves night vision because the eye's low-light sensors react less to red than to white light. Submariners keep the room dim and red, then look…
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Buenos Aires has Latin America’s oldest operating subway
Line A opened in 1913, giving Buenos Aires a subway before any other city in Latin America. The trains and network changed over the years, but that first line…
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A pogo backflip briefly turns a rider into a falling gymnast
The spring provides the launch; body position controls how the rotation develops in the air. Tucking reduces rotational inertia and speeds the turn, while…
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Slow-moving oil can still carry enormous volume through a pipeline
Flow rate depends on both speed and the pipe's cross-section. A broad pipeline moves a large amount of oil even when the liquid itself is traveling at an…
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Auckland commuter ferries bypass heavy urban bridge traffic
The harbor is the shortcut: ferries carry commuters across the water instead of sending them around it to join Auckland’s bridge queues. Traffic gets a…
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Copenhagen counted more than five bicycles for every car
The city's 2021 mobility report listed about 736,600 bicycles and 132,200 passenger cars for 2020. That comparison makes the cycling culture more tangible…
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Why trains struggle with even gentle hills
A train’s wheels need friction against the rails to climb, but steel on steel offers little grip. Add a hill and gravity gets a vote on every carriage; the…
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Venice gondoliers need hundreds of hours of training
Venice’s canals leave little room for a steering mistake. Gondoliers learn to guide a long boat with a single oar, using carefully timed strokes and body…
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Paragliding is like taking a lawn chair into the sky
The soft canopy acts like a wing, and a web of lines holds the pilot in a harness beneath it. Pull one control line and the wing turns; shift your weight and…
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Some helicopters carry an inflatable backup for water landings
Emergency flotation systems pack compactly during flight and deploy around the aircraft for a ditching. Their buoyancy is meant to help keep the helicopter…
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Buzz Aldrin held communion on the Moon
Aldrin brought bread and wine for a private communion after the lunar landing. In the Moon’s quiet, a tiny ritual from home became part of humanity’s…
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The Wright brothers’ first flight was shorter than a 747’s wingspan
A 747 stretches farther from wingtip to wingtip than the Wright brothers flew on their first powered trip. Their Flyer stayed aloft for just 12 seconds, a…
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Bumper cars were invented to make crashes safer
A rubber ring around each car spreads a collision across a soft, springy bumper instead of a hard metal edge. The impacts stay low-speed, and the cars bounce…
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Why bagpipes can cause trouble at airport security
Bagpipes were historically carried into battle by Scottish Highlanders, and their martial history can lead airport security to treat them like weapons, with…
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Why passports still use holograms
A hologram changes appearance as you tilt the passport, thanks to microscopic patterns that are difficult to copy with ordinary printing. Border officers get…
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