Transport
Discover facts about transport. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Transport
Juggling while running has its own name
Because running a marathon wasn't punishing enough, some individuals decided to continuously toss three bean bags in the air while doing it. Dropping a ball…
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Why flying at 500 mph feels like sitting still
Cruising at massive speeds feels exactly like sitting in a rigid chair in a boring room. Because the completely enclosed cabin air is moving at the exact same…
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Terminal tractors have rear cab doors
Since yard drivers hook and unhook trailers a hundred times a day, walking around the vehicle is deemed an unacceptable waste of time. The back wall of the…
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How some fighter jets hover in midair
Fighter jets are strictly meant to go forward, but a few rebellious models feature massive swiveling exhaust nozzles. By violently redirecting all that thrust…
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How airliners stay balanced as they burn fuel
An airplane cannot just burn fuel from one side, or it would tilt sideways like a drunken bird. Automated systems constantly transfer heavy liquid fuel from…
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Night cycling absolutely requires a white front light
Stealthily pedaling through the darkness without illumination isn't just incredibly dangerous, it is explicitly illegal. You must physically attach a beaming…
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Potenza public escalators replace steep pedestrian climbs
Built on terrible topography, this Italian town boasts a massive network of public escalators. Residents essentially treat the entire hillside like a…
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Gliders are towed into the sky by standard airplanes
Because unpowered aircraft literally lack the means to take off, they rely entirely on parasitic hitchhiking. A perfectly normal tow plane drags the glider…
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Septic tanks function by letting dense sewage sludge sink
Rural plumbing relies on nothing but gravity and patience. A septic tank strictly serves to briefly slow down raw sewage, letting heavy solid matter…
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The canal that reversed a river
Shaving 8,000 miles off the trip around South America sounded like a stellar idea until the French and then the Americans actually tried digging through a…
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Bomber crews can spend 30 hours in the air
Delivering payloads across the globe requires pilots to stay airborne for absurd, sleep-deprived durations. Strategic bomber crews endure thirty-hour marathon…
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Zeppelin hangars were big enough for indoor rain
Constructing sheds large enough to hold floating behemoths led to accidental meteorological phenomena. The interior volume was so outrageously massive that…
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Why racing huskies can eat 10,000 calories a day
If you ever feel bad about your dietary choices, consider the Alaskan husky. These furry biological engines are the absolute peak of metabolic perfection.…
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Early sleeper trains had one basin for everyone
Nothing says elite luxury travel quite like washing your face in the exact same bowl as twenty other sweaty strangers. Early sleeper trains offered zero…
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Matte car finishes absorb light instead of reflecting it
Paying thousands of extra dollars for a paint job that intentionally looks unfinished is the pinnacle of modern automotive aesthetics. Unlike glossy paints…
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Why US passenger trains keep stopping for freight
Ever wonder why an Amtrak train routinely pulls over to a dead stop in the middle of cornfields for three hours? It's not a scenic detour. Passenger trains in…
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Hi-rail vehicles drive on roads and tracks
For the indecisive maintenance crew that refuses to choose between pavement and steel rails. These standard pickup trucks are fitted with small, retractable…
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Singapore cable car moves crowds between an island and peak
While heavily used by tourists, it functions as a legitimate way to bypass the harbor traffic below. You simply step into a cabin, glide over the water, and…
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Some performance mufflers are built to be loud
Instead of actively muffling sound, aftermarket tailpipes are literally designed to be obnoxious trumpets. They ensure an entire zip code knows you are…
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Brisbane CityCats move passengers along a winding river
Brisbane is built around a river that meanders so aggressively that boats are the only logical shortcut. Commuters pile onto these sleek catamarans to bypass…
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Shaking small parts until they march in lines
Sorting thousands of tiny, randomly piled screws relies entirely on weaponizing aggressive vibration. Vibratory bowl feeders utilize carefully tuned…
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Those hearse bars are purely decorative
Those elegant, S-shaped chrome bars stuck to the side of a hearse are entirely fake. They are modeled after functional hinges from vintage carriage designs,…
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Roller skate wheel durometers measure urethane hardness
Not all plastic rings are created equal; some are meant to grip, and some are meant to slip. The durometer scale determines how hard a skate wheel is, with…
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Why airplane wings turn upward at the tips
High pressure under a wing constantly tries to sneak over to the low pressure on top, creating massive swirling vortices at the tips. Bending the ends of the…
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