Use the Force
with their dogfights, but the spacecraft featured in the Star Wars series have terrible aerodynamics, according to YouTube user EC Henry. Having imported models of ships such as X Wings and Tie Fighters into a program designed to simulate airflows, they found that the vessels from a galaxy far, far away had worse drag than modern day military jets.
While it鈥檚 no surprise that a spaceship shaped like an olive between two crackers has worse aerodynamics than a jet fighter, Feedback points out that no Earth plane has yet completed the Kessel Run in under 12 parsecs.
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Space slick
ANY astronaut hoping to compete would do well to pack a squeegee. The Milky Way is filled with grease, according to a team of astronomers from Turkey and Australia. Space dust is partially made up of carbon-rich plasma ejected by stars, which typically forms into either aliphatic (greasy) or aromatic compounds. Studying the chemistry of these molecules should allow astronomers to better estimate the density of dust clouds seen in interstellar space.
鈥淭he early days of computing were a fruit basket, writes Ian Kennedy, with the likes of Apple and Apricot. So pity the Italian company Selcom, who named their now-forgotten product the 鈥淟emon鈥濃��
By replicating the processes that form the space grease in a laboratory on Earth, the team was able to discern how much there is in the Milky Way: 10 billion trillion trillion tonnes, or by Feedback鈥檚 estimate, sufficient to butter a stack of toast tall enough to give Galactus indigestion.
Researcher Tim Schimdt advises against this, though: 鈥淚t鈥檚 dirty, likely toxic and only forms in the environment of interstellar space.鈥� Galaxy hoppers should probably pack their own sandwiches, then.
Chill factor
IN THE frozen north of Alaska, energy companies have mastered the art of extracting oil in Arctic conditions. There鈥檚 just one problem: thanks to climate change, things won鈥檛 stay frozen.
reports how with each passing year, the permafrost melts earlier and freezes later, threatening to topple pipes, drills and houses above. To cope, oil companies are increasingly reliant on purpose-built refrigerating pipes called thermosiphons that freeze the ground.
Typically these units are passive 鈥� capturing heat from the ground and discarding it in the air. But as the warmer season grows ever longer, oil companies will be forced to spend energy chilling the ground to extract the very product that is responsible for warming it. Perhaps they should try solar panels?
We want change
US RAPPER Akon has announced plans to build his own city in Senegal, powered by 鈥� what else 鈥� a cryptocurrency, which he has christened AKoin. The artist hopes that Akon Crypto City will be a technology hub on par with the futuristic 鈥� and it must be said, fictional 鈥� African nation of Wakanda, as seen in the superhero movie Black Panther.
Akon鈥檚 hopes of powering a city with a cryptocurrency are about as likely as finding a deposit of the magical metal vibranium, though Akon told reporters that he plans to 鈥渃ome with the concepts and let the geeks figure it out鈥�. Every T鈥機halla needs a Shuri!
Heavy rain
鈥淚 NOTE in your story about the US working on an X-ray bomb (16 June, p 6) that Robert Bunker of the US Army War College鈥檚 Strategic Studies Institute is concerned about such technology,鈥� says Garry Linnell. 鈥淧erhaps he fears it could penetrate underground.鈥�
Weighty issue
THE Bee Gees hit Stayin鈥� Alive may be popular in some parts of the UK for maintaining rhythm during CPR, although others have a different focus, says Graham Hodgson. 鈥淢y brother recently completed training in CPR in Manchester where he was advised not to worry too much about breaking ribs, since so long as the patient survived the ribs would heal.鈥� Perhaps in keeping with this advice, 鈥渉e was encouraged to sing along to Mandy Miller鈥檚 Nelly the Elephant鈥�.
Swan song?
ANOTHER track with the right beat for CPR is Queen鈥檚 Another One Bites The Dust, says Merlin Reader. 鈥淧robably best not to sing along if do you use it鈥�.
Hush-a-bye baby
NO MORE will strangers whisper sweet nothings into the ears of Chinese netizens. Authorities have cracked down on breathy ASMR videos, labelling them 鈥渧ulgar and pornographic content鈥�.
ASMR, or autonomous sensory meridian response, refers to the soothing, scalp-tingling sensation elicited by hearing whispers or sighs, among other stimuli.
鈥淐hina鈥檚 laws and regulations have clear provisions on the determination of obscene and pornographic voices,鈥� thundered a statement from the Chinese Anti-Pornography Office, although Feedback still isn鈥檛 clear exactly how husky a voice must be to fall foul of such rules. To paraphrase US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart鈥檚 take on pornography: 鈥淚 know it when I hear it鈥�.
Dead light
AT AN emergency preparedness meeting for his local community, Howard Bobry was assured that a discharged alkaline battery weighs less than a fresh one.
鈥淓instein taught the equivalence of mass and energy,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ut I don鈥檛 think this is quite what he had in mind.
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