NewScientist The Last Word - Category details

Category details

Be informed on updates to this list by RSS

84 matches found

<< First < Prev [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] Next > Last >>

How efficient is 'hypermiling', when other road users are included?

As a passenger in a car the other day, I noticed the extreme frustration that our slow acceleration after takeoff from traffic lights caused other drivers. In a ten minute journey, I counted no less than 6 instances where cars overtook us, using extreme acceleration and braking to do so. The driver's defence for the slow acceleration was that it is 'economical'. My question is: is it, when the fuel consumption of all drivers concerned is considered? For those who know their physics and maths, how many irritated drivers accelerating around a slow driver, or flooring it to get through traffic lights because the car in front of them took forever to get going, would it take to counteract the fuel conservation effect of driving economically?

(1 vote) average rating:4

There are 3 answer(s) for this question. View answers | Submit an answer

Asked by lisa
on 2009-07-31 12:52:17

Member status
none

Categories: Environment, Transport.

Tags: transport, car, fuel.

Report abuse

Could a Formula 1 car generate enough downforce to allow it to stick to the ceiling?

I heard that a Formula 1 car travelling at 200 kilometres per hour would generate enough downforce (or suction) to allow it to stick to the ceiling.

Is this correct? And if it is, how is the force generated?

Robert Webber, Melbourne, Australia

(Image: mzacha, stock.xchng)

This is an interesting thought-experiment and gave us some great answers. Clearly the long-running debate over how aircraft wings achieve lift is still alive and kicking - Ed

Editorial status: In magazine.

(no votes)

There are 37 answer(s) for this question. View answers | Submit an answer

Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2009-05-20 17:02:00

Member status
none

Last edited on: 2010-01-20 14:54:05

Categories: Transport, Technology.

Tags: speed, car, formula1, ceiling, downforce, suction.

Report abuse

Point the way

When the Apollo and other similar space capsules were returning to Earth, it was important for the larger end of their bell-shape to face downwards. This is because the protective shield, that resisted the intense heat created on re-entry by atmospheric friction as the spacecraft slowed, was positioned there.How were the capsules designed so that they would always keep the larger, protective face towards the Earth and not flip over so that the pointed end faced earthwards? It seems to me that this would be likely to happen as this orientation would minimise air resistance. Or is my grasp of space flight a bit flimsy?Bill France, Leicester, UK(The photo shows the Apollo 13 Command Module after splashdown (Image: NASA))

(no votes)

There are 28 answer(s) for this question. View answers | Submit an answer

Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2009-05-13 17:17:32

Member status
none

Categories: Transport, Technology.

Tags: human body, unanswered, technology, transport.

Report abuse

Wheels of death I heard the car is the deadliest weapon created by humans and that the number of lives it has claimed exceeds the death toll from atomic weapons, guns or bombing. Is this true? And what are the grisly figures involved?Thomas Elling, London, UK
(no votes) There are 24 answer(s) for this question. View answers \| Submit an answer

Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2009-04-22 17:23:24

Member status
none

Categories: Human Body, Transport, Technology.

Tags: human body, animals, technology, transport.

Report abuse

What requires more calories: walking up steps or a slope? A pathway in my neighbourhood splits at an incline into both steps and a slope. Which option requires more calories to walk up or down? Yonatan Silver, Jerusalem, Israel (Image: Pat-swan, stock.xchng)
Editorial status: In magazine. (no votes) There are 23 answer(s) for this question. View answers \| Submit an answer

Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2009-04-22 17:04:00

Member status
none

Last edited on: 2009-11-25 15:47:10

Categories: Human Body, Animals, Transport, Unanswered.

Tags: walk, stairs, steps, slope, uphill.

Report abuse

Speed freaks

A single Formula 1 car passing by makes a noise of around 110 decibels.

Last year I went to a Formula 1 Grand Prix and sat near the start line, where 20 cars left the grid at once.

The noise was mind-numbing, much louder than a single car, but not 20 times louder (or 2200 decibels, an unachievable figure). Why wasn't it?

Walter Coppin, Edinburgh, UK

(Image: stempl01, stock.xchng)

Editorial status: In magazine.

(no votes)

There are 17 answer(s) for this question. View answers | Submit an answer

Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2009-04-22 17:02:00

Member status
none

Last edited on: 2010-01-06 14:26:42

Categories: Transport, Technology.

Tags: noise, formula1, decibel.

Report abuse

Surround sound

I live a kilometre north of a busy motorway. When the wind is coming from the south the noise of the motorway is noticeably greater than when the wind is coming from the north.Assuming a wind speed of a mere 30 kilometres per hour, how can the wind direction affect the level of traffic noise I hear when the speed of sound is more than 1235 kilometres per hour?Jim Turton, by email, no address supplied

(no votes)

There are 23 answer(s) for this question. View answers | Submit an answer

Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2009-04-15 17:02:00

Member status
none

Categories: Weather , Transport.

Tags: animals, transport, weather.

Report abuse

Altered images

Driving along in the car the other day, my four-year-old son asked why things that were closer to us were moving faster than those further away. What should I tell him?Milton Inverdale, London, UKThanks for a vast number of answers to this question, many of which were probably more suited to undergraduate level than to a four-year-old. However, one notable group of wags insisted on sidestepping the answer at all costs.Among these was the inevitable "Ask your mother", from Tony Turner of Tuross Head, New South Wales, Australia.Stephen McIntosh of Hull, UK, suggested: "You are far too intelligent for a four-year-old... have a lolly."More encouraging was the answer from Dave Oldham of Northampton, UK, who offered: "If you can ask a question like that at four years of age it won't be many more years before you can explain it to me."And congratulations to Peter Gosling of Farnham, Surrey, UK, for his unashamedly literal view of the world. His advice was: "I think you should tell your son that it is illegal for him to be driving at four years old." - Ed

(no votes)

There are 26 answer(s) for this question. View answers | Submit an answer

Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2009-01-21 18:01:00

Member status
none

Categories: Transport.

Tags: technology, transport, planet earth.

Report abuse

Dead in space During long voyages in space it is possible that people will die, either from illness or because of an accident. What plans are there for disposal of the corpses?Jessica Franklin (age 12), London, UK
(no votes) There are 16 answer(s) for this question. View answers \| Submit an answer

Asked by damian
on 2008-09-24 18:02:00

Member status
none

Categories: Transport, Technology.

Tags: animals, unanswered, technology, transport.

Report abuse

Chain gang My father used to hang a chain which dragged along the road from the back of our car. He said it would prevent my sister from getting car sick. I thought it was some kind of placebo effect but later I discovered that my husband's family did this for their car-sick dog. Does it work and, if so, how?Ginette Andress, Allambie Heights, New South Wales, Australia
(1 vote) average rating:4 There are 43 answer(s) for this question. View answers \| Submit an answer