Transport
Discover facts about transport. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Transport
Staten Island Ferry operators run a massive, heavily utilized fleet of passenger ships that shuttle nearly twenty-five million people across New York Harbor every single year for…
Staten Island Ferry operators run a massive, heavily utilized fleet of passenger ships that shuttle nearly twenty-five million people across New York Harbor…
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Titanic offered a squash court in the middle of the Atlantic.
Titanic offered a squash court in the middle of the Atlantic. First-class passengers could use a swimming pool, Turkish baths and a gym as well as grand…
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British road locomotives once had to follow a man carrying a red flag.
British road locomotives once had to follow a man carrying a red flag. The 1865 law required a person to walk at least sixty yards ahead, warning horse riders…
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An early motorcycle carried a steam boiler between its wheels.
An early motorcycle carried a steam boiler between its wheels. Sylvester Roper's late-1860s steam velocipede used a purpose-built metal frame with…
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Some airlines retire flight numbers after fatal crashes.
Some airlines retire flight numbers after fatal crashes. A new number can separate a continuing service from an identifier associated with tragedy, while the…
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Ice cream trucks originally drove around neighborhoods blasting cheerful melodies from mechanical music boxes simply because the refrigeration units were too loud, and the music masked the obnoxious engine noise.
Ice cream trucks originally drove around neighborhoods blasting cheerful melodies from mechanical music boxes simply because the refrigeration units were too…
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Oklahoma City installed the world's first parking meter in 1935 as a desperate measure to stop downtown workers from abandoning their cars on the street all day long.
Oklahoma City installed the world's first parking meter in 1935 as a desperate measure to stop downtown workers from abandoning their cars on the street all…
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Tourists visiting the Greek island of Santorini used to exclusively rely on a massive fleet of overworked donkeys to haul their luggage up hundreds of steep, slippery cobblestone steps from the port.
Tourists visiting the Greek island of Santorini used to exclusively rely on a massive fleet of overworked donkeys to haul their luggage up hundreds of steep,…
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A tiny escalator fire became a fatal lesson in how flames move.
A tiny escalator fire became a fatal lesson in how flames move. At King's Cross in 1987, a fire beneath a wooden escalator grew into a devastating blaze.…
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Rail workers built a spur to bring the wounded President Garfield to a seaside cottage.
Rail workers built a spur to bring the wounded President Garfield to a seaside cottage. In 1881, volunteers laid the short extension at Elberon, New Jersey,…
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America's interstate highways were not designed as a network of runways.
America's interstate highways were not designed as a network of runways. The familiar claim that one mile in every five must be straight for emergency…
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An ejection seat saves a pilot with a punishing launch.
An ejection seat saves a pilot with a punishing launch. The seat must accelerate a person clear of a failing aircraft in an instant. That force can compress…
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Nome's lifesaving serum traveled by train before the dog sleds.
Nome's lifesaving serum traveled by train before the dog sleds. In 1925, antitoxin for the town's diphtheria outbreak reached Nenana by rail, then continued…
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Canada officially possesses the longest continuous highway in the entire world, stretching nearly five thousand miles from the jagged cliffs of Newfoundland all the way to the lush shores of British Columbia.
Canada officially possesses the longest continuous highway in the entire world, stretching nearly five thousand miles from the jagged cliffs of Newfoundland…
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Military officials in the United States imported over seventy camels from the Mediterranean and Middle East right before the Civil War to serve as elite pack animals for the army in the harsh southwestern deserts.
Military officials in the United States imported over seventy camels from the Mediterranean and Middle East right before the Civil War to serve as elite pack…
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An early helicopter rescue had to save people one at a time.
An early helicopter rescue had to save people one at a time. In Burma in April 1944, Carter Harman used a Sikorsky helicopter to evacuate wounded commandos…
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Autonomous vehicles are currently programmed to make highly complex moral decisions in a split second, such as calculating whether it is mathematically better to swerve and hit a…
Autonomous vehicles are currently programmed to make highly complex moral decisions in a split second, such as calculating whether it is mathematically better…
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Sergei Krikalev's space career left him about 0.02 seconds younger.
Sergei Krikalev's space career left him about 0.02 seconds younger. Across roughly 803 days in orbit, his high speed made time pass slightly more slowly for…
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A heavy truck bends the ice beneath it, creating a moving wave in the water below.
A heavy truck bends the ice beneath it, creating a moving wave in the water below. On an ice road, speed can make that flexing more dangerous, so operators…
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New York subway riders have helped map the rats as well as the trains.
New York subway riders have helped map the rats as well as the trains. The Transit app asks riders whether they spot rats when they reach a station, then…
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Satellites took aircraft tracking beyond the reach of ocean radar.
Satellites took aircraft tracking beyond the reach of ocean radar. Ground radar cannot cover the middle of an ocean, so controllers historically relied on…
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Busy aircraft carpets give stains somewhere to hide.
Busy aircraft carpets give stains somewhere to hide. A coffee spot stands out on a plain floor; against a pattern of shifting colors and shapes, it is harder…
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A ship's required whistle pitch depends partly on its size.
A ship's required whistle pitch depends partly on its size. International rules assign lower frequency ranges to the largest vessels: ships at least 200…
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Iconic red double-decker buses in London did not originate with modern combustion engines, but were originally massive wooden carriages violently dragged through the filthy…
Iconic red double-decker buses in London did not originate with modern combustion engines, but were originally massive wooden carriages violently dragged…
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