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- MacBandit, on 06/11/2009, -0/+9I love the X-15 and even have a picture of me standing next to it but to call it a plane is really pushing it. It's really more of a horizontal rocket. In my opinion if it doesn't take off and land under it's own thrust than it's probably not a plane. This honor really goes to the SR-71 or one of it's several similar models.
- fritzek, on 06/11/2009, -2/+10 What is good about the metric system:
* A much simpler system
* No conversions (only one unit for each quantity)
* No numbers to memorize (derived units are defined without numerical factors)
* No fractions (decimals only)
* No long rows of zeros (prefixes eliminate them)
* Only 30 individual units (compared to hundreds of traditional units)
* Easy to pronounce and write (short names; simple letter symbols)
* Based on natural standards (size of Earth, water, laws of physics)
* Coherent system (symbols can be manipulated algebraically)
* World standard (even traditional U.S. units are defined by it)
* The only nations other than the USA which remain officially non-metric are Liberia and Myanmar (Burma). - sleuce, on 06/11/2009, -0/+7The Evergreen Air and Space Museum in McMinnville Oregon has an SR-71 on display right now. What a wicked piece of machinery. Its main evasive manuever is to accelerate, how badass is that?
- schavira, on 06/11/2009, -0/+7Good movie
- waydee, on 06/11/2009, -0/+4The US is just like the UK, I suspect most people understand metric and imperial units just fine for everyday purposes. The UK is a 'metric' nation yet our road signs use miles and yards, we measure fuel economy in mpg yet buy fuel by the litre, we like our pints of beer and milk resulting in odd size containers (568ml etc.) and I know my weight in kilograms, pounds and stones. A lot of people can work with metric and imperial weights without too much bother but it's definitely something that's slowly on the decline, I don't think kids are taught imperial units any more.
Even if the US did go officially metric I suspect the outcome would be what I see here - old habits die hard and most don't care/are comfortable with both systems which just results in a situation that must be very confusing for visitors and the like. I don't know if it'll ever change properly but until then I'll fill up my car with 45 litres, drive 15 miles to a shop, buy drinks by the litre, apples by the pound and tobacco by the gram. It sounds stupid but metric and imperial can co-exist.
The bonus is that the standard measure of beer gives you 68ml over the 500ml standard in properly metric countries and I doubt that'll be disappearing any time soon. - Surferess, on 06/10/2009, -0/+4I would like one of those SSC Ultimate Aero cars, please.
- hareton1, on 06/10/2009, -0/+4The X-15 is truly a remarkable piece of engineering. Those guys who flew it were the ultimate in bad-assery.
- Dunpite, on 06/11/2009, -0/+3World's fastest car is actually the supersonic Thrust SSC http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThrustSSC. Since you are considering the rocket powered X-15 as a "plane" (i.e. non-jet) might as well mention thrust SSC
- AmericanGunner, on 06/11/2009, -0/+3rip john candy:(
- cyrix, on 06/11/2009, -0/+2Really? REALLY?!?! You dragged politics into a story about fast modes of transportation? The mind reels....
- grandinferno, on 06/11/2009, -0/+2Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
btw, I've got new socks on!
:D - MrM1yagi, on 06/11/2009, -1/+3Planes, Trains and Plantains: The Story of Oedipus.
- angilinmago, on 06/11/2009, -1/+3"Altogether more amazing is the French TGV -- this conventional train rode its metal wheels and track to a baguette-crisping 357 mph. That's only four miles per hour slower (357 mph) than the fancy-pants Maglev train"
Don't mess with French - inactive, on 06/11/2009, -1/+3Dugg for speed and TGV! (Tequila-Gin-Vodka)
- fritzek, on 06/11/2009, -1/+3I know, that the mph=kph*1.6, but if I want to know how many times the car in the article is faster than my car, I have to perform the calculation.
I agree, that it's not a big deal, but it makes communication/trade/study/... more difficult and possibly has some economical impact. Sometimes it can even cause some serious trouble: http://edition.cnn.com/TECH/space/9909/30/mars.met ... (crash of Mars orbiter).
It may take some time, but all European countries used their crazy units until 19th century http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SI-metrication-w ...
P.S. I like your bonus :) - Kev10191, on 06/11/2009, -0/+2Dugg for baguette-crisping.
- SamSks, on 06/11/2009, -0/+2You need to sell them as bracelets to skinny girls. Then you can get fare.
- awmagad, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1The metric system is the tool of the devil. My car gets fourty rods to the hogs head and that's the way I likes it
- maffiou, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1No need to go metric to rip people off:
us pint = 473ml
uk pint = 568ml - maffiou, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1Damn metric system made you reply in the wrong place ! :)
- SuperCujo, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1Pity they look pretty crappy. Like something a 16 year old doodles in math class...
- MacBandit, on 06/11/2009, -2/+3No slideshow YEAH!!! That said this list is really lacking. From the initial list I figured their be facts regarding a Falcon and other things. Also where's the Thrust SSC!?
- awmagad, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1The metric system is the tool of the devil. My car gets fourty rods to the hogs head and that's the way I likes it
- cawpin, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1Correction, the guys that RODE in it are the ultimate in badassery. There wasn't much control. Also, it is technically a plane because it has controls, but it really is just a rocket.
- SamSks, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1I'm with you!
Back in undergrad chemistry, I had an exam question that said something to the effect of calculate the weight of some volume of water. No problem at all in the metric system.
I got it - the only one in the class. The instructor gave everyone credit for the question because she didn't mention what the density of water was in the question.
I prefer to do everything in the metric system. SI units are all metric. Most of our cars use metric nuts and bolts and that includes American made cars. What pisses me off is that I have yet to find a metric lug wrench in my local stores.
I would love to use metric in my next home improvement project buy unfortunately, building materials are all in the old system and I don't want to have to convert back and forth. We all know what happened when a NASA vendor did that! - Hellahulla, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1It does say "Fastest car" in the heading, but "Fastest production car" in the body. IMO both should have been mentioned. Thrust SSC is worthy of getting a couple of lines of text I'm sure.
- SamSks, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1WTF was he doing on a train track?!?
Darwin at work bay! - topcat5, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1That was an experiment. Their trains normally operate around 185-190 mph. The Japanese have done the same thing.
- diemunkiesdie, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1Sorry, I must have missed it, what movie?
- Hellahulla, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1Some Norwegian and Swedish people still like to use their mile standard ... usually to piss of foreigners I think mainly :) 1 mil = about 10km. And I know a hell of a lot of UK people who use the 'farsee' but that's not really a standard measurement of any kind. A farsee is basically the farthest point you can see with the naked eye.
The bonus is used to rip us metric countries off sometimes. Beer companies will sell pint cans and what not, often with a little higher per litre cost than the regular 5dl. - SuperCujo, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1Well done, can I have her number...
- waydee, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1I completely agree that it's near essential to stick to metric units for certain things and for the most part where communication/trade/study are concerned metric is king. That said I used to work in an fab shop making valves etc. for offshore oil rigs and the US influence in the industry meant a lot of imperial units but that was an exception. For anything requiring precision, communication, sciences, official weights and volumes etc. metric is essential and is all that is used.
For some guy fitting a carpet or for road signs etc. it makes no difference what the units are - a mile in the US and UK means as much as a kilometre does everywhere else. I think most people would just rather avoid the public expense of going completely metric when for the most part both systems can be juggled with relatively little confusion. It'll probably happen eventually but I think those crazy units are going to stick around in some countries for a little while longer. The UK will do just enough to keep the EU happy, the US may take longer. - Aeroboy, on 06/11/2009, -1/+1It's a rocket-propelled plane. The lift is provided by wings and not solely by the thrust, as in a rocket or a missile. That's while cruise missiles are basically pilotless rocket-propelled planes as well.
- mejf2loy, on 06/11/2009, -5/+4Bush brought us into the toilet, and Obama is flushing it!
- inactive, on 06/11/2009, -2/+2Would anyone like shower curtain rings?
- outofboxin, on 06/11/2009, -0/+0great compilation...
- rogueblade, on 06/11/2009, -0/+0always had that argument with friends as a kid
- ramdiggs, on 06/11/2009, -0/+0No love for Usain Bolt?
- hareton1, on 06/11/2009, -0/+0What are you kidding?! It was designed to see if pilots could fly into and out of space! The pilots had to maneuver using aerodynamic control surfaces until reaching the top of their burn, and then transition to peroxide thrusters to keep the plane level, then back to ailerons again. On one of the flights, the window busted out, and the pitot tubes and wing leading edges would burn up during every flight. The only fatal crash in an X-15 came after the pilot lost control and went into a spin. This isn't riding an apollo capsule back... this is piloting to the nth degree.
- mejf2loy, on 06/11/2009, -5/+5pfff My girlfriend says out of all the boyfriends shes had, I cum the fastest.
- whatit, on 06/11/2009, -1/+0That opening picture is quite possibly the best ***** picture ever.
- sleuce, on 06/11/2009, -3/+0The Space shuttle pwns the X15 as far as ground speed is concerned.
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