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We have a brainteaser for engineers and physics-minded readers. Also, some of the principles involved in Santa’s epic annual journey: advanced knowledge of electromagnetic waves, the space/time continuum, nanotechnology, genetic engineering, and computer science.
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Can the Plane Take Off?
OK, this “thought experiment” has been zipping about the Internet. Here’s the brainteaser for our engineers and physics-minded readers, as presented at Straight Dope and Pogue’s Posts (NYT):
“Imagine a plane is sitting on a massive conveyor belt, as wide and as long as a runway. The conveyer belt is designed to exactly match the speed of the wheels, moving in the opposite direction. Can the plane take off?
“I say no, because the plane will not move relative the ground and air, and thus, very little air will flow over the wings. However, other people are convinced that since the wheels of a plane are free spinning, and not powered by the engines, and the engines provide thrust against the air, that somehow that makes a difference and air will flow over the wing.”
Please leave your answers or ideas in our Comments section below.
Snowy Space Mountains
The tallest known mountains on Saturn’s moon Titan have been revealed in the latest images from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft.
During a flyby to obtain the highest resolution infrared views of Titan yet, Cassini resolved surface features as small as 400 meters (1,300 feet). According to Science Blog, the images reveal a large mountain range, dunes and a deposit of material that resembles a volcanic flow. These data, together with radar data from previous flybys, provide new information on the height and composition of geologic features on Titan.
The mountains appear in images from the Visual Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) instrument. Though the features have been seen before, this time the instrument also spotted a hazy shadow stretching away from the range, which itself is about 150 kilometers (93 miles) long. The length of the shadow reveals that the mountains are about 1500 meters high (nearly a mile).
Deposits of bright, white material, which may be methane “snow” or exposures of some other organic material, lie at the top of the mountain ridges.
Santa Science
Dr. Larry Silverberg, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University, tells Machine Design he can explain the science and engineering principles that could allow Santa Claus to pull off his epic journey to so many children in one night. Some of the principles involved: advanced knowledge of electromagnetic waves, the space/time continuum, nanotechnology, genetic engineering, and computer science.
Santa knowing what all those children want for Christmas
Silverberg says that the fat character has a listening device that combines technologies currently used in cell phones and EKGs. A sophisticated signal processing system filters the data, giving Santa clues on who wants what, where the children live and, of course, who’s been naughty or nice. An onboard sleigh guidance system provides Santa with the most efficient delivery route.
Crisscrossing 200 million square miles in a single night
Silverberg says Santa uses his knowledge of the space/time continuum to form “relativity clouds.” The engineering professor tells Machine Design, “Santa recognizes that time can be stretched like a rubber band, that space can be squeezed like an orange and that light can be bent. Relativity clouds are controllable domains — rips in time — that allow him months to deliver presents while only a few minutes pass on Earth.”
Getting inside 80 million homes
The same aforementioned “relativity cloud” technology also allows Santa to “morph” into people’s homes, where he sets up his workshops. Using nano-toy-making technology, he creates presents atom by atom out of snow and soot, much like DNA can command the growth of organic material like tissues and body parts.
“This is our vision of Santa’s delivery method, given the human, physical, and engineering constraints we face today,” Silverberg says.
Remainders
1) Apparently, Ford Motor Co. is so desperate to destroy one of the few cars the automaker has done right over the last few decades that it is considering a “mustang” wagon. According to a report in the magazine AutoWeek, the next generation of the Ford Mustang could include some previously unthinkable variants, including a four-door sedan and a station wagon. “To a Mustang purist, this is blasphemy,” said Bob Gritzinger, AutoWeek‘s senior editor for news. What do you think? (via CNNMoney)
2) India, considered one of the world’s top polluters, said yesterday that it was not doing any harm to the world’s atmosphere despite increasing emissions of greenhouse gases, reports Reuters. 
Some scientists argue that unchecked greenhouse gas emissions could see global temperatures rise by 2-3 degrees Celsius in the next 50 years and could result in devastating climate change. Although India is not required under the Kyoto Protocol to cut emission levels at this stage, experts say its emissions are rising due to its rapid economic development and could become a significant contributor to global warming. The country’s environment minister told parliament India’s emissions were insignificant compared to those of richer nations, which should take the lead in curbing greenhouse gases.
3) South Korea, on the other hand, opened the world’s largest garbage-fuelled power plant on Tuesday. The 50-megawatt plant, 
which began operating this week, is designed to provide power to more than 180,000 households. Sitting on a mammoth garbage dump in the city of Incheon west of Seoul, it uses only the methane gas naturally generated from the decomposing garbage on the site for fuel. The plant is expected to save the country the import of 500,000 barrels of heavy oil and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1.37 million tons per year, according to AFP.
4) A superior court judge in Reading, Pa., overruled a county court judge in August and declared that Miller Genuine Draft is, in fact, an actual beer. According to GovPro, the county judge had said that the prosecutor had failed to show that MGD was on the state beer list, but the superior court judge said there was other evidence that MGD is beer. Tax dollars at work, folks.
Cheers.
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The plane is stationary, therefore no air is flowing over the wing. BTW, the conveyor belt only needs to be as wide and as long as the distance between the outside of the wheels and the length between the nose wheel and the wheels under the wings, as the plane is not going to move.
The plane would take off. Imagine a rear-wheel-drive car. The front wheels are free wheeling against the pavement; as the pavement moves under the wheels at the same speed the wheels turn, you still have forward motion brought on by the thrust of the rear wheels. This principle would apply to the plane with the thrust of the engines moving the plane, not the wheels.