If you wanted to anchor an airplane into the ground so it wouldn't be able to take off, what would the rope have to be made out of?

—Connor Childerhose

Ah, the Just Cause 2 scenario.

At takeoff, a 747's four engines can each generate 281.57 kN of thrust. I have no real sense for what that number means, so let's put it in different terms:

A 747 with all engines at full could roughly balance the weight of a dangling blue whale.

With all that weight, how thick would the cable need to be?

Surprisingly, not all that thick! A cable a little over an inch in diameter would do it.[1]Bethlehem Wire Rope General Purpose Catalog

Let's suppose you don't have a cable lying around. What else could you use?

If you're into fishing, you might have some fishing line. A typical line for saltwater fishing might have a 50-100 lb strength,[2]West Marine: Selecting Fishing Line so it would take a brigade of several thousand people armed with fishing rods to restrain the plane.

If you don't have fishing line, there's one thing you probably do have: Hair.

While hair isn't as strong as steel, it's just about the strongest material in your body,[3]Examples of the Tensile Strength of Materials with a tensile strength rivaling or exceeding that of bone.[4]Properties of Textile Fibers

This tensile strength is why performers are able to hang by their hair at the circus. In fact, from a materials standpoint, it's actually more impressive that performers are able to hang by their arms.

Based on these hair strength figures, a piece of hair three inches in diameter would be strong enough to restrain a 747.[5]If you wanted to measure the strength of a strand of hair, you could use the device described by US Patent #4628742A, "Tensile strength tester for hair"

Hairs that big around are hard to come by.[6]... I hope. Since most of us have many small hairs, instead of one big hair ...

... we'd need to get a lot of hairs and bundle them together. Given that individual hairs can support about 50 grams of weight, we'd need roughly 20 heads of hair to restrain the aircraft.

Conclusion: Restraining a plane with a cable would be pretty easy.

Further conclusion: Blue whales are not typically covered in hair,[8]Although they are mammals, most whales do not have coats of hair like land mammals typically do but if we transplanted the hair from at least 20 human heads onto a blue whale ...

... it would have enough hair to perform acrobatics at a circus.

Thanks to @emmac!

Part of the Royal Baby Special

Part of the Royal Baby Special

A 1936 color photograph shot in Berlin on Agfacolor, a German film.Photograph by Hans Hildenbrand, National Geographic

Many of us, myself included, brush aside compliments in a subconscious effort to be self-deprecating, but this behavior actually does more harm than good.

Read more...

We noticed recent appearances of these plant-covered sculptures in photos from an exhibition called the Mosaïcultures Internationales Montréal (June 22 to September 29). This year’s edition covers the “Land of Hope” theme and includes over 50 “giants of the horticultural arts” on display in Canada’s impressive Montréal Botanical Garden. With 20 countries represented by 200 participating artists, the event is also an international art competition, and the winners will be picked for the Grand Honorary Jury Award and People’s Choice Award.

See more photos in the Mosaicultures Montreal 2013 gallery and Mosaiculture – International group.

Photos from AV Dezign, DeannaVY, Cosmar, Robert Perron, and lusignan.

Welcome to the HMV store in mid 20th century London! Why not take a turn in one of the space age listening booths…

Or hang out at the Cosmopolitan Corner and be all… cosmopolitan.

Meet some other cool cats in this music library / lounge …

Toot toot! Beep beep!

And you might as well record your own debut album since you’re here…

But let’s just take a moment to remind ourselves what’s it’s like shopping for music today:

Yeah, not as awesome…

Let’s get back in our time machine …

Space age toilets!

Adorable little televisions! (but I might stick with my 2013 television, thanks).

Fancy some fresh fruit while you shop for a new record player?

The listening post is an ideal environment to try out your best pick-up lines…

And of course, what we all came for…

the music…

… Hand-packaged in beautiful vinyl sleeves; music we could actually touch, hold and hug.

All images via HMV Get Closer Flickr Account

:::

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

.

A dog rests on a couch in a store in Texas, 1992.Photograph by Bruce Dale, National Geographic

California-based company MotoArt designs striking furniture pieces made from iconic aircraft. More sculpture than industrial design, MotoArt brings function, history, and a sense of eclecticism to their pieces. On top of that, their commitment and love for aviation radiates through their work.

C-119 Rudder Desk

All of the company’s desks are made from parts they have salvaged from vintage airplanes. For starters, the C-119 Rudder Desk is a piece that has been stripped down to show the bones of the original 1940’s design. The C-119 was used during the Korean and Vietnam wars to haul troops, cargo, and weaponry. Believe it or not, this desk requires more than 120 man-hours to make!

DC-9 Desk

The DC-9 Desk is a bold design crafted from Plexiglas, hardwood, and metal that’s been welded, acid-washed, sanded, polished, and buffed—to say the least. The DC-9 plane was first introduced in the 1960s and is still used today by major passenger airlines.

B-25 Bomber desk

The B-25 Bomber Desk series takes its inspiration (and one-of-a-kind parts!) from bomber planes often used during WWII in the Pacific Ocean. Their durable frames have translated into sturdy and well-designed desks.

B-25 Mitchell Bomber Desk

All of MotoArt’s desks are limited editions that can be customized for the user. Now you can put an iconic airplane smack-dab in the middle of your home or office—just in a new form, that serves a new function.

The Guilielmus 010 is an outdoor table plus bench that defies gravity, or at least looks like it. 010 is the latest design from Belgium-based designer Stijn Guilielmus Ruys, and even though the piece of furniture only has three legs, it’s perfectly stable. It’s even more practical than your typical table because you have extra room underneath the table without all of the typical legs in the way.

Besides its practicality, 010 looks pretty cool. The piece becomes a permanent sculpture in your yard or garden that will continue to play with your perception depending on what angle you view it from.

Photos by Bert Sacré.

Thanks to Vanessa G!

Thanks to @YarahGoffincher!

I’m a sucker for hand made stems and Steve C’s new randonneur from Signal Cycles has a nicely detailed one. Check out more photos of this mint beauty at the Signal Cycles Flickr.

Photo by Brenton Salo

I’ve always loved the Cinelli Pinocchio stem. Nice shot Brenton!

Happy Merckx Mondays! This Recent Roll post is brought to you by David Flores and Division 1, a new shop on the east side of Austin, Texas. The guys at D1 flew Mr. Flores out to paint this massive Eddy Merckx mural on the eastern façade of their new building. It’s impressive!

Tools of the trade:
Mamiya 7ii / 80mm
Fuji Pro400H

#aceofspades #magnum #magnumbelevedere #belevedere #youngmoney by prehndk 

My dad got me gold-plated, diamond encrusted calculator from Burma #notevenjoking #bling by jackpprosser

Q: Could you suggest some types of fish and recipes that might help me enjoy more seafood? I am quite sensitive to that 'fishy' smell/taste and have little experience cooking seafood. I eat tuna (both tinned and fresh), and occasionally I have mild white fish like haddock, cod, sea bass and the odd prawn, but I struggle with oily fish like salmon and mackerel.

Quand on se casse un bras, ou un autre os, on se retrouve avec un plâtre qui n’est pas très hygiénique, avec lequel on ne peut pas se laver, qui empêche de se gratter, etc.
Pour remédier à ses problèmes Jake Evill a inventé « Cortex« , un exosquelette qui est imprimé en 3D avec du plastique en fonction de la forme exacte du membre à protéger.

Thanks to Tom H!