Today I learned...

Urmas said:
BBC? Am asking because no such programme has bee shown "waaaay up here".
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Yup, definitely BBC and it was either in one of the episodes of "Incredible Medicine: Dr Weston's Casebook" or possibly an episode of "Trust Me I'm A Doctor," both of which feature Gabriel Weston. Just not sure which.

:)
 
Funnily I had been reading about this particular lady on Facebook. The film was very interesting and still we have no cure for many Cancers.
 
TIL that there are approx. 15,700 nuclear warheads on this planet. :eek:

Why would any nation need more than about 20? Wouldn't it be nice if there were none?

Frightening. :(
 
nivrip said:
15,700 nuclear warheads on this plane
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Arsemerica and Russia combined have 13,800 of those warheads. We only have 215. North Korea is the only country that can launch from their back garden.
WarheadsGraphic_170201.webp
 
TIL: North Korea owes Sweden millions for Volvos from the 1970s

Volvo received an order for 1,000 of its 144 model and promptly started shipping the cars out to North Korea in 1974. But it very quickly became apparent that Pyongyang was not paying for the goods that had been shipped.

In fact, they never did, and the debts have stood ever since. Adjusted for inflation, they now amount to the equivalent of millions of dollars.
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:lol:
 
Electric Cars Are The Future

Well, today I learned that the same was being said in the 19th century. :eek:

In fact, the very first speed record was set in Dec, 1898 in an electric car at 39.24mph and by Jan 17, 1899 it had been increased to 65.79mph.

This record was not broken until April 1902 and this was by a steam driven car :eek: at 75.06mph.

An internal combustion engine car finally got the record, 76.08mph, in August 1902 driven by a William Vanderbilt. Money talks I suppose.

The first record over 100mph was by another steam driven car in 1906 at 127.66mph.

The present electric speed record is 341mph done in September 2016.

Nice to know they're still working on it after 118 years. :D Maybe they'll get it right one day. :D
 
nivrip said:
Nice to know they're still working on it after 118 years. :D Maybe they'll get it right one day. :D
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It's not so much a case of getting it right we have here but rather a case of going faster. From 39.24mph right up to 341mph I think they've all been right, just... different.

And I expect they'll still be trying in another 118 years.

There will probably come a time though when a certain land bound speed becomes physically impossible. I wonder.
 
Yes, what I meant by getting it right was the fact that we need a battery that will get us up to at least 300 miles before recharge. At present the best we can do is about 120 miles and that is in perfect conditions. If it's cold and wet and you need the heater and wipers on then the range is only about 80 miles.

The only way round this is to have a battery that you totally replace at the garage whenever it runs down. No good sitting there waiting to charge. Still need a longer range than at present though. "Filling up" every 80-90 miles would be a pain. :)
 
On Bugatti Chiron the tires gave out by 300mph, according to what I read there are no tires which can withstand higher speeds. the record for 341 must be for very short time.
 
"The accepted record is fastest average speed recorded over any one-mile or one-kilometer distance, averaged over two runs in opposite directions (to factor out wind) within one hour of each other."

And, remember, the land speed record is now 763mph. The "car" is not wheel driven but jet propelled. It does, however, run on wheels with tyres. :)
 
nivrip said:
It does, however, run on wheels with tyres. :)
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Um... not quite (TIL):

[Brakes and wheels for ThrustSSC have been provided by Dunlop Aviation. Carbon brakes are used as the material is ideally suited to the requirements of ThrustSSC. There are two types of wheel - conventional tyred wheels for low speed runs up to about 250 mph and solid aluminium discs approximately 100mm thick designed to withstand the stresses involved in making the record attempt.
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http://www.thrustssc.com/thrustssc/Press_Pack/Dunlop/Dunlop.html
 
Ah, yes, you're quite correct, Urmas. I completely misinterpreted the article I read about this vehicle. :blush:

Thanks for the update. :thumb:
 
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