Fact O' The Day

[frog69]

right on!!!

[Krandall]

The term "wild goose chase" is a Shakespearean reference to horses.'


Used by Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, the term that now refers to the hopeless pursuit of a pointless goal apparently had a similar meaning in Shakespeare's day, but with a separate figurative connotation. Referring either to a game played by riders or to the behavior of galloping horses themselves, the phrase evoked horses chasing after a single lead horse, thereby winding up in a geese-like "V" formation. (On the other hand, a "wild-goose chase," hyphenated, is literally just a chase for wild geese.)

[frog69]

the SR-71 black bird flexed and stretched up to 15 inches during its landing and flight. it's skin was designed to do this becuase of it's speed and how high if flew. the landing gear are one big peace of titanum. at the time they were being built, the usa didn't have enough so they bought almost all the titanum that went on the planes from Germany. 

[Krandall]

SR-71 is a sweet bird!!!

[Krandall]

'The largest financial empire of the early 20th century was built on the production of matches.'


In his day, Ivar Kreuger may well have been the richest man in the world. The Swedish businessman and engineer eventually founded or acquired hundreds of companies, but the core of his business was his family's match factories. Kreuger's match business merged with several others, and when the Swedes invented safety matches, Kreuger's influence expanded until his companies (which included Diamond Match, Ohio Match and the International Match Corporation) were responsible for the bulk of the world's match production. Kreuger's empire was financially unsound, however, having been built on speculation and dummy corporations, and ended in utter financial collapse and Kreuger's suicide (although some speculation suggests that he may have been murdered).

[Krandall]

'A company in New Zealand is producing functional jet packs.'


Christchurch's Martin Aircraft Company has begun developing several varieties of jet pack, including one for military use and another for recreational consumer use (the latter comes with an expectably high $100,000 sticker price). The company has produced working models of the device, which it classifies as an ultralight aircraft; Martin's website features several videos of the jet pack in use. Unlike earlier attempts to build similar personal flight devices, this jet pack has solved the thrust-to-weight problem, and can run for half an hour on five gallons of gas.

[Peelz]

'A company in New Zealand is producing functional jet packs.'


Christchurch's Martin Aircraft Company has begun developing several varieties of jet pack, including one for military use and another for recreational consumer use (the latter comes with an expectably high $100,000 sticker price). The company has produced working models of the device, which it classifies as an ultralight aircraft; Martin's website features several videos of the jet pack in use. Unlike earlier attempts to build similar personal flight devices, this jet pack has solved the thrust-to-weight problem, and can run for half an hour on five gallons of gas.

vids & photos or this didnt happen.

no time for google searching

[Krandall]

http://www.martinjetpack.com/the-martin-jetpack.aspx

[Segkast]

Can't you get a pretty decent plane for $100G ? Think I'd feel better in a plane...

[Krandall]

Yea, but it's not a f*ckin JET PACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Peelz]

http://www.martinjetpack.com/the-martin-jetpack.aspx

thanks randy

I want one.

only 86k totally worth it if you had that.


i dig how they are controlling attitude and motion with the little X shaped deflectors.

[Segkast]

I feel ya Randy, I'll wait until they work out a few more bugs myself though

[Colorado700R]

In this picture you see a man scared to death...what you don't see is his wife on the phone quadrupling his life insurance while shopping at the local Ferrari dealership!

[Krandall]

[Krandall]

'The letter J did not exist until the Renaissance.'


The original Latin alphabet omitted some letters we now use, and other letters served multiple purposes ("Z" was once the seventh letter, for example, and then briefly disappeared from the alphabet entirely). The "J" sound was considered part of the "I" sound, which is why, for instance, the inscription on Trajan's Column in Rome spells the emperor's name "TRAIAN." It remained that way until a grammarian named Gian Giorgio Trissino attempted to make improvements to literary Italian; some of his suggestions were disregarded, but his modern versions of the "V" and "J" caught on.