Re: Emergency braking and bird anatomy [was: Re: DVD copying and CSS]
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On Sun, Feb 22, 2004 at 04:43:33PM +0000, Pigeon wrote:
> That's a stupid advert. What it actually demonstrates is that the
> driver in the advert doesn't know how to brake in an emergency
> situation - the car slides to a halt with its front wheels locked. If
> the driver had avoided locking the wheels the car would have stopped
> in time.
On the other hand, look how many people drive? Too many people fail
to pump disc brakes and do pump antilocks. Or they drive a 4WD and
don't realize that anti-lock brakes operate as disc brakes except when
in 2WD. It's disappointing that it's simply not feasable to test
people on what's in their car's owner's manual.
> It also demonstrates that you shouldn't run out into the road without
> looking, and that parents whose kids lack road sense should keep them
> under control near roads.
This applies to trains as well, including narrow-track trains. Just
because the tracks are (like many tourist and park railroads in the
US) 2'6" instead of 4'8.5" apart only means that 10 cars and an engine
weigh 300 tons instead of 900 tons or so, and still won't stop fast at
any speed. And I can safely say firsthand that engineers don't like
stopping two feet short of the 5-year-old you tried dragging against
the signal across the tracks, who locked up staring into headlights
anymore than you like watching it; you feel pretty sick for a couple
days afterwards from the scare of nearly hitting someone you can't
dodge. The flashing lights and bells apply to you even if you're
walking, folks.
</rant>
> The reason for having such a massive muscle is clearly shown by the
> beautiful slow-motion shot of a pigeon, in the foreground, taking
> off almost vertically, and generating thrust on the upstroke as well
> as on the downstroke.
Locally, the pigeons with any sense of urgency tend to use them to
outrun light rail trains when the trains sneak up on them, flying only
centimeters off the ground. Given they tend to do this near the light
rail stations most, I'm surprised there's not more pedestrian/pigeon
collisions.
- --
.''`. Paul Johnson <baloo@ursine.ca>
: :' : http://ursine.ca/
`. `'` proud Debian admin and user
`- Debian. Because it *must* work.
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