Transport
Discover facts about transport. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Transport
Harley-Davidson's first ever motorcycle, built in a tiny wooden shed in 1903, was equipped with a motor so pathetically weak that it couldn't even propel the bike up a moderate…
Harley-Davidson's first ever motorcycle, built in a tiny wooden shed in 1903, was equipped with a motor so pathetically weak that it couldn't even propel the…
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British engineer Christopher Cockerell invented the hovercraft in the 1950s using an empty cat food tin, a coffee tin, and an industrial hairdryer to test his theories on pneumatic air pressure.
British engineer Christopher Cockerell invented the hovercraft in the 1950s using an empty cat food tin, a coffee tin, and an industrial hairdryer to test his…
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Venetian gondolas are legally required to be painted black due to a strict 16th-century sumptuary law passed to stop nobles from aggressively flexing their wealth with absurdly decorated boats.
Venetian gondolas are legally required to be painted black due to a strict 16th-century sumptuary law passed to stop nobles from aggressively flexing their…
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Parisian subway cars run on actual rubber tires instead of traditional steel wheels to reduce noise and increase traction on steep inclines.
Parisian subway cars run on actual rubber tires instead of traditional steel wheels to reduce noise and increase traction on steep inclines. Introduced in the…
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Postal delivery in the early twentieth century occasionally included the shipping of actual living children through the standard mail system.
Postal delivery in the early twentieth century occasionally included the shipping of actual living children through the standard mail system. After parcel…
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Eurotunnel engineers digging the massive Channel Tunnel between England and France had to use highly advanced laser surveying technology to ensure the two massive boring machines…
Eurotunnel engineers digging the massive Channel Tunnel between England and France had to use highly advanced laser surveying technology to ensure the two…
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When the incredibly dominant ride-sharing application Uber first launched in San Francisco, it did not offer cheap rides in beat-up sedans driven by exhausted freelancers…
When the incredibly dominant ride-sharing application Uber first launched in San Francisco, it did not offer cheap rides in beat-up sedans driven by exhausted…
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Traveling to the edge of the Earth's atmosphere is theoretically a much shorter journey than driving across a large terrestrial state, meaning you could technically reach the…
Traveling to the edge of the Earth's atmosphere is theoretically a much shorter journey than driving across a large terrestrial state, meaning you could…
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Japanese rail companies have equipped some of their high-speed trains with speakers that blast the sounds of barking dogs and snorting deer to prevent catastrophic wildlife collisions.
Japanese rail companies have equipped some of their high-speed trains with speakers that blast the sounds of barking dogs and snorting deer to prevent…
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Australia boasts a stretch of highway so notoriously straight, flat, and mind-numbingly boring that the government actually installed trivia games on road signs to prevent drivers from falling asleep at the wheel.
Australia boasts a stretch of highway so notoriously straight, flat, and mind-numbingly boring that the government actually installed trivia games on road…
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Henry Ford poured millions of dollars into building a utopian corporate town deep in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest simply because he absolutely hated buying rubber from the British.
Henry Ford poured millions of dollars into building a utopian corporate town deep in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest simply because he absolutely hated buying…
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South African inventor Charl Fourie won an Ig Nobel Peace Prize for inventing the Blaster, a literal car-mounted flamethrower designed to deter violent carjackings in the late nineties.
South African inventor Charl Fourie won an Ig Nobel Peace Prize for inventing the Blaster, a literal car-mounted flamethrower designed to deter violent…
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Indian Railways developed an official mobile application specifically dedicated to tracking the notoriously delayed national train network in real time.
Indian Railways developed an official mobile application specifically dedicated to tracking the notoriously delayed national train network in real time.…
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Virginia transportation officials famously built an entirely fake town called Smart Road equipped with highly advanced streetlights, rainfall generators, and dummy buildings just to test experimental driving technology.
Virginia transportation officials famously built an entirely fake town called Smart Road equipped with highly advanced streetlights, rainfall generators, and…
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Richard Dudgeon invented a steam-powered carriage in 1855 that could carry ten people at fourteen miles per hour, but New York City authorities banned it because it was too loud and terrified the horses.
Richard Dudgeon invented a steam-powered carriage in 1855 that could carry ten people at fourteen miles per hour, but New York City authorities banned it…
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Soviet engineers built the Alfa-class submarine in the 1970s with a titanium hull that allowed it to dive deeper and swim faster than the actual torpedoes the US Navy was using to hunt it.
Soviet engineers built the Alfa-class submarine in the 1970s with a titanium hull that allowed it to dive deeper and swim faster than the actual torpedoes the…
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European airlines actively flew thousands of completely empty ghost flights during the pandemic just to maintain their premium landing slots at major airports under outdated aviation regulations.
European airlines actively flew thousands of completely empty ghost flights during the pandemic just to maintain their premium landing slots at major airports…
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Mopeds were originally designed as motorized bicycles, combining the exhausting pedal power of a standard bike with a weak, sputtering little engine that barely managed to conquer a mild incline.
Mopeds were originally designed as motorized bicycles, combining the exhausting pedal power of a standard bike with a weak, sputtering little engine that…
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Canals were the economic lifeblood of the industrial revolution, allowing heavy raw materials to be dragged slowly through man-made ditches by miserable mules plodding along the towpath.
Canals were the economic lifeblood of the industrial revolution, allowing heavy raw materials to be dragged slowly through man-made ditches by miserable mules…
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China completed the Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge in 2010, an absolutely massive piece of high-speed rail infrastructure that stretches for an incomprehensible one hundred and two miles between Shanghai and Nanjing.
China completed the Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge in 2010, an absolutely massive piece of high-speed rail infrastructure that stretches for an incomprehensible…
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NASA astronauts used a modified Airstream motorhome known as the Astrovan to travel from crew quarters to the launch pad for over a quarter of a century; the silver bullet…
NASA astronauts used a modified Airstream motorhome known as the Astrovan to travel from crew quarters to the launch pad for over a quarter of a century; the…
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Sleeping policemen were the original colloquial term for the massive concrete speed bumps invented by physicist Arthur Holly Compton in 1953 to slow down campus traffic; he was…
Sleeping policemen were the original colloquial term for the massive concrete speed bumps invented by physicist Arthur Holly Compton in 1953 to slow down…
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General Purpose was originally the military designation for the light reconnaissance vehicles used during World War II, which soldiers quickly abbreviated to GP and then Jeep;…
General Purpose was originally the military designation for the light reconnaissance vehicles used during World War II, which soldiers quickly abbreviated to…
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Project Sea Hunt was a bizarre 1970s Coast Guard initiative that successfully trained pigeons to spot lost people at sea from the underside of rescue helicopters; the birds were…
Project Sea Hunt was a bizarre 1970s Coast Guard initiative that successfully trained pigeons to spot lost people at sea from the underside of rescue…
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