Transport
Discover facts about transport. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Transport
You can take oversized liquid medicine through airport security
Cough syrup enthusiasts, rejoice. If you declare your giant bottle of liquid medicine to the agents before sending it through the machine, they will actually…
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A cargo ship carrying 20,000 containers needs just 20 people
You’d think moving a skyscraper-sized vessel carrying 20,000 shipping containers would require a small army. In reality, the hyper-automated mega-ships of…
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The astronaut who played golf on the Moon
Humanity spent billions of dollars, utilized the greatest scientific minds of a generation, and risked absolute disaster to reach the lunar surface—and we…
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Some Australian highways double as emergency runways
The vast outback is so completely empty they just paint massive runway markers directly on the highway. Flying doctors can casually land on the road to treat…
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Derailleurs aggressively push the chain
Hook: Changing gears on a bike involves violently shoving a metal chain off its current path. Explanation: The derailleur is a mechanism that physically…
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How railway dining cars became American diners
Nothing screams mid-century American aesthetic like eating greasy pancakes inside repurposed mass transit. In the early 1900s, clever restaurateurs realized…
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The fake paratroopers dropped before D-Day
Psychological warfare is best executed with terrifying toys. Before the Normandy invasion, the Allies dropped hundreds of burlap sacks stuffed with straw and…
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The bicycle that sent riders flying over its handlebars
Before the glorious invention of chain gears, the only mathematical way to go faster on a bike was to make the front wheel comically huge. The horrifying…
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Why hot-air balloons were silent—and terrifying
Because balloons move exactly with the wind, there is absolutely no breeze or sound in the basket. This eerie, dead silence completely terrified early…
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Handlebar tape heavily absorbs sweat
Hook: That colorful wrapping on a racing bike is mostly there to deal with human grossness. Explanation: Drop handlebars are wrapped in padded tape to provide…
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One blimp carries enough helium to lift a house
It takes an absolutely comical amount of lighter-than-air gas to keep these slow-moving billboards in the sky. If you somehow captured all the helium inside…
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Concept of a hemisphere purely divides the globe in half
A hemisphere is literally just half a sphere. It’s a conceptual tool invented so mapmakers didn't have to draw both sides of the planet at once. We’ve turned…
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Blood pooling in legs during travel causes visible swelling
When you sit in a tiny cabin seat for hours, your vascular pumps essentially go on strike. Fluid leaks into your surrounding tissues, leaving you trying to…
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Some luxury cars have a starry sky overhead
Because merely having a comfortable roof is apparently far too boring for the aggressively wealthy. A highly specific British luxury marque offers an option…
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Your flight time includes waiting on the taxiway
When you buy a three-hour flight, you are not actually flying for three hours. The official airline clock starts the moment the parking brakes are released at…
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Why carpool lanes sit empty at rush hour
Everyone stuck in gridlocked regular traffic is forced to stare agonizingly at an utterly barren carpool lane, because finding a coworker willing to ride…
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Why knitting needles are allowed on planes
Despite being literal metal spikes that you furiously stab together, security authorities give them the green light. Apparently, the threat of mid-flight…
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Walt Disney Built A Steam Train In His Backyard
When you invent an empire of cartoon mice, normal hobbies simply vanish. Walt Disney was aggressively obsessed with railways, so he laid half a mile of…
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Many helicopters use simple skids instead of wheeled landing
Retractable wheels are heavy, complicated, and entirely unnecessary if you never need a runway. Instead, many helicopters just feature two glorified metal…
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Handlebar drop extensions lower the rider's upper body
If you ever wanted to stare directly at your own front tire for three hours, this is the design for you. Drop handlebars curve downward and forward, forcing…
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Why your suitcase still gets loaded by hand
Behind all the computerized check-in kiosks and automated belts, the final step of getting your suitcase onto the plane involves a guy literally crawling…
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Cargo ships still run on obsolete Windows systems
The delicate backbone of global commerce is resting on the same operating system you used to play Space Cadet Pinball in 2004. A terrifying number of massive…
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Convertible soft tops contain multiple layers of insulation
That floppy fabric roof overhead isn't just a basic tent meant to keep the rain off your face. Early convertibles were incredibly loud, intensely cold, and…
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The Romanovs took a grand piano on their train
Imperial excess meant hauling an entire concert hall across the freezing steppes. The Russian royal family refused to travel without live entertainment,…
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