What Supersonic Looks Like

Posted by Queuebot in Car & Vehicle, Pictures, Weapons & War on July 1, 2009 at 1:15 pm

It’s been over six decades since Chuck Yaeger broke the sound barrier, but photos of fighter jets hitting Mach 1 has always fascinated us. Here’s a new photo of an Air Force F-22 Raptor  aircraft breaking the sound barrier while performing aerial maneuvers in the Gulf of Alaska:

The phenomenon is not well studied. Scientists refer to it as a vapor cone, shock collar, or shock egg, and it’s thought to be created by what’s called a Prandtl-Glauert singularity.

Here’s what scientists think happens:

A layer of water droplets gets trapped between two high-pressure surfaces of air. In humid conditions, condensation can gather in the trough between two crests of the sound waves produced by the jet. This effect does not necessarily coincide with the breaking of the sound barrier, although it can.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Geekazoid.

 
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The Raptor: Jurassic Park Without All the Pesky Dinosaurs

Posted by Alex in Movies & SciFi on January 5, 2009 at 2:22 am

The Raptor is a short yet clever video clip (1:37) about Jurassic Park, but without any real dinosaurs. Just a hallway and two dudes who managed to be quite entertaining!

Link [embedded YouTube]

 
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