Why has nobody built a rotating space craft to simulate gravity?
They have tried this exactly once, to prove the viability of the concept. The Gemini 11 mission joined two capsules together with a tether and maneuvered them into…
What happens if sugar is put in concrete?
One of my friends had this question in a BARC-2014 interview. The interviewer asked him “What if I threw my tea on the concrete.” See, that was an…
How advanced was the Concorde compared to modern planes?
Terribly behind-old technology. Designed in the 1960’s, so few computers. Going supersonic, while not easy, is not that hard. Doing so economically is REAL tough. The cost of…
What will the Earth be like in 50 million years? What will the sky look like?
Welcome to the 50 million AD using time travel technology. The highlights of this trip will be delicious fish fruits, animal-like walking pollen, kangaroos even in Africa, and…
How long will it take until Voyager 2 is one light year away from Earth?
Voyager 2 is one of the fastest craft mankind has ever built, clocking in at a staggering 57,890 km/h. In fact, the only higher velocities we have been…
When a Japanese destroyer was strafed by US Navy fighters with .50 machine guns could these rounds go through the side of the ship or penetrate the deck and superstructure?
This is the USS Cassin Young, a destroyer memorial in Boston’s Charlestown Navy Yard, built in WW2. Every single plate of steel, including the gun shields, is no…
Are shotguns ridiculously powerful in real-life as they are portrayed in computer games and movies? And are they actually effective at range?
The shotguns power as portrayed in most movies and video games is vastly different from the real world effects. MythBusters did a myth regarding this. In short, taking…
What historical military technology, once considered cutting-edge, became obsolete far more quickly than its designers likely imagined?
Brick walls Construction on Fort Point commenced in 1853, during California’s Gold Rush, and finished in 1861, as America’s Civil War began. With two other forts on Alcatraz and Lime…
If an astronaut working on the International Space Station were somehow cut loose from his tether, would he fall back to Earth or orbit around it?
If an astronaut outside the ISS has his or her tether broken, they do not fall to the Earth. Before the tether was broken, the astronaut was in orbit at…
Escape velocity is supposed to be 24,000 mph, but our rockets never achieve this speed. How does that work?
Imagine you are sitting on a skateboard at the bottom of your drive and you need to get to the top. You could push off your garage door…