nothing new... the Russians have been sending burly "women" to the Olympics for decades.

I think they could take this monobob 1 step further, make it purely a skill sport by adding weight such that the combined pilot+sled weight is the same for everyone, and use a railgun-style launcher (tech existed for rollercoasters for years) that sends everyone at the same speed. That could even be a mixed-sex sport, like Nascar.

It could be, but the size of the props makes me think it's pretty heavy with the motors required to drive all 4, and the angle of tilt it maintains (you can step through a bit) without losing altitude requires a lot of thrust. It looks pretty legit to me, and with the proper power to weight ratio, this is pretty much how I'd expect something like this to be built and look and sound. I mean, none of it looks impossible -- the control is the hard part.

To me, the current crop of justices seem to be less willing to deviate from the Constitution as written. Should abortion be allowed? IMO, yes. BUT, are laws banning abortion unconstitutional? According to the Constitution as written and amended, probably not. Roe v Wade was written by a court that believed that abortion and the "right to privacy" should carry the weight of constitutional law, even though the Constitution is silent on these "rights".

My suggestion: If abortion should be considered to be a "right", then so amend the Constitution. Otherwise, it will be subject to the vagaries of "interpretation" forever.

Using a mountainside might help with structural integrity, but it's not likely to give much air resistance advantage if I'm reading the math correctly. The 5 highest peaks in the US are all in Alaska and and range from just under 5km to just over 6km. Commercial jets using air resistance/density for lift fly at about 10km and even at 38km aerodynamic lift still carries 98% of the weight of the plane (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%A1rm%C3%A1n_line)

Air density is halved at 5km compared to sea level, but air resistance doesn't diminish as quickly (due to it being multiplied by velocity squared and drag coefficient), and only becomes irrelevant (for short-term purposes) around 100km at the Karman Line.

If we had a 5km peak in Florida, the lack of logistical costs might make the benefits worth it, and if we could build on one of Equador's 5km peaks, then there's the further advantage of equatorial location for optimal rotational advantage (part of the reason we launch from South Florida)

Looks cool . Wonder how usable it is in comparison to other prosthetics? The weight alone , i assume, would be an issue.

...but maybe that's not the point.

I hate it when the uneducated try to explain a complex issue and do a piss poor job of it. Is PFAS a problem? Sure. Are ALL PFAS compounds a problem with regards to their toxicity? No. The small molecule species are problematic because of mobility. The polymeric species are stable as fuck, that's why they were invented and why we use them as seals and barrier layers to isolate corrosive liquids and gases, and why we use them in such things as medical implants. The polymers excel because they are inert and largely unreactive. So - are they all bad? No. Are they all good? No. But it's too late - the fuckwits like Oliver have fueled the Emotional Response bus, and society won't stand for outdated concepts like scientific investigation or rational thought. Eight member countries of the EU are presently on track to restrict or ban all PFAS in any form, sweeping all compounds into the same category with no differentiation between a water soluble perfluorinated molecule like perfluorinated PVME and a one million molecular weight PTFE polymer. If it has a -CF2- moiety in it, it's subject to being banned. Good science doesn't matter any more, the knee-jerk fear mongerers are now making the decisions.

He really does have a weight advantage. Just sayin'.

A bit odd they're making an enormous concrete dam as a carbon emission offset, because cement makes .9lbs of CO2 for every lb of cement. (Cement makes up approximately 10% of concrete by weight...1 gallon of concrete weighs approximately 20 lbs, they used 21.4 million gallons) ....that's a shitload of CO2 for materials alone.
Plus big dams kill their rivers.
Hydro electric is not really green energy....not this kind of hydro electric anyway. Maybe micro hydro.

I wish we had this in the US:

1. At 18, you go into two years of national service, PERIOD. Unless you're in a coma, you're going. And you're going to go someplace you're not from and be on a team with people you're not used to so that your millimeter-wide view of America gets forced open to a mile.

You will be evaluated for mental and physical wellness. If you're suffering from mental illness, you will get help. If you're struggling with weight or other physical issues, you will get help.

You will be helping out in communities that you are not used to seeing: rural, inner-city, black, white, Latino. You will meet gay people, hard-core religious people, prisoners, entrepreneurs, carpenters and mechanics. You will get to know their world and help them understand yours.

2. After your two years, you have some choices:

- You can go into the military and strengthen those skills you've shown an aptitude for.

- If you want, you can attend a trade school, fully covered.

- If you want to go to college, your first two years will be covered if you get a AA/AS. Should you go for a four-year degree, your first three years will be covered.

Imagine what kind of nation we'd be living in right now has this been done in 1990.

Love Scott Manley, but not sure why he's started trying to add comedy bits to his videos... stick to the rocket science.

Good explanation though- 1 of 5 engines failed, so instead of thrust:weight ratio being 1.25, it was 1.0. Only when it burned enough fuel did it get light enough to start lifting.
Could've ended much worse.

- Covid
- "(...) get aids or be 14 and get pregnant."

Two of these things are not like the other...

"There are many risky behaviors that people choose / You either have free choice or you dont."

And some of them will get you put right the fuck in jail for a very long time -- like drunk driving and careless firearm discharge -- because they're FUCKING DANGEROUS TO OTHERS.

"I'm against the vaccine but realize that it was in my best interest to take it. ( 59, over weight, out of shape etc)"

Seriously, WHAT? You -do- understand what you just said, right? So let me get this straight: "Me me me me me me me me me and fuck you."?

So thank you from the bottom of my heart (seriously) for getting the vaccine for whatever reason you chose, but dude...

@StukaFox says

Buts its ok to be a gay and get aids or be 14 and get pregnant. Both are blights on society and costly of insurance dollars / government aid.


There are many risky behaviors that people choose.


I'm against the vaccine but realize that it was in my best interest to take it. ( 59, over weight, out of shape etc)


You either have free choice or you dont.

"Bomb technicians estimated the weight of the explosives to be about 16.5 pounds, but when the ATF National Response Team conducted an investigation following the blast, their total net explosive weight was just over 42 pounds, according to Moore."

More can be found here..
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/19/us/firework-explosion-los-angeles-bomb-squad-update-human-error-trnd/index.html

From what I can find...timers and/or sensors that arm them after being deployed.
Weighted bottoms and/or little parachutes. Many types function in any position too, so upright doesn't matter.
Even ground based deployment is usually tossing them mechanically from a vehicle by the thousands, not by hand.

https://videosift.com/video/M139-Volcano-Mine-System

Does anyone know how much the plane's weight decreases during the drop, and how that changes its handling?

(I'm trying to work out how much harder this is than, say, coming in for a landing run.)