On 21 September 1956, test pilot Tom Attridge was flying Grumman's new F-11F-1 Tiger. He fired a burst from his 20mm cannon while diving and accelerating. The cockpit was then struck by an outside object. Attridge immediately radioed that he was returning to base. While attempting to land, the jet lost power and crash-landed on the runway. Attridge, thankfully, escaped safely. A subsequent examination found three bullet impacts and one intact 20mm bullet in the plane. Attridge had managed to shoot his own fighter down:

How did this happen? The combination of conditions reponsible for the event was (1) the decay in projectile velocity and trajectory drop; (2) the approximate 0.5-G descent of the F11F, due in part to its nose pitching down from firing low-mounted guns; (3) alignment of the boresight line of 0° to the line of flight. With that 0.5-G dive, Attridge had flown below the trajectory of his bullets and, 11 seconds later, flew through them as their flight paths met..

Link via View From The Porch | Photo: Military.cz

The Golden Ratio is a mathematical constant that, since the Renaissance, artists have incorporated into their works as an expression of aesthetic perfection. Doug Bowman of Twitter says that the site's redesign is directly based upon it:

To anyone curious about #NewTwitter proportions, know that we didn't leave those ratios to chance.

This, of course, only applies to the narrowest version of the UI. If your browser window is wider, your details pane will expand to provide greater utility, throwing off these proportions. But the narrowest width shows where we started, ratio-wise.

Link via Gizmodo | Image: Doug Bowman

Previously: The Amen Break and the Golden Ratio

The use of the bayonet has been part of basic training since the beginning of US military history. Although its use in combat has becoming increasingly less common, US Army trainers had kept it in place for psychological reasons:

“Traditionally in the 20th century – certainly after World War I – bayonet training was basically designed to develop in soldiers aggressiveness, courage, and preparation for close combat,” says Richard Kohn, professor of military history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Bayonet training is, in short, used to undo socialization – to “basically to try to mitigate or eradicate the reluctance of human beings to kill each other,” Mr. Kohn says. It is one of the challenges in US or Western society “where we have such reverence for the individual, where we socialize our people to believe in the rule of law, and all of that,” he adds. “What you’re doing with young people is trying to get them used to the highly emotional and irrational and adrenaline-filled situations in which they are liable to find themselves whether they are within sight of the enemy or not – and the reluctance to take a life.”

Nonetheless, the US Army has decided to eliminate bayonet training from its basic training program and to use that time developing other skills.

Link via Glenn Reynolds | Image of the 65th Infantry during the Korean War via of the US Department of Defense

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Remember the "surprised kitty" video (below) that made it around the Internet a few months ago? It shows a kitten playing with a human in fairly superior kitten cuteness. YouTube user CapnPeteStraw offers this parody, featuring an adorable baby Darth Vader. (via GearFuse)

Ross Luippold of The Huffington Post photoshopped nine movie posters, album covers, and title cards that imagined a world in which celebrities went by their real names instead of their stage names. Tom Cruise's real name is Thomas Mapother?

Link via Geekosystem

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The World Wildlife Fund created augmented reality t-shirts in an effort to raise awareness of the threat that poachers pose to Siberian tigers. When people in trendy clothing stores in Moscow tried on the shirts in front of mirrors, the mirrors displayed images of the wearer getting shot in the chest.

via Gizmodo

Ed Diment built a LEGO Minifig scale (that's 1:40) aircraft carrier modeled after the Essex-class carrier USS Intrepid (CV-11). It will be on display at BrickCon this weekend in Seattle.

Link | Photo: Ed Diment | Previously: LEGO Aircraft Carrier in Water

A commuter train between Shanghai and Hangzhou set a new speed record yesterday. It reached 258.86 MPH during its journey:

"The new record of 416.6 km per hour shows that China has achieved a new milestone in high-speed train technologies," Zhang Shuguang, deputy chief engineer of the Ministry of Railways, was quoted as saying.

The rail service has been largely unsuccessful in attracting customers due to high ticket prices. Its managers hope that this new record will counteract that problem.

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/66816/20100929/china-high-speed-train-new-record-in-train-speed-china-shanghai-hangzhou-high-speed-train.htm via Popular Science | Photo (unrelated) via Flickr user occam used under Creative Commons license

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The B.O.N.D. (Build of Notorious Deterrents) Bike is a bicycle that comes equipped for many commuting situations. Should you encounter heavy snow, the rear tracks and forward skis will propel you forward when your tires lose traction. An ejector seat and a flamethrower mounted into the handlebars helps the rider address interpersonal conflicts. The bicycle is not available for sale, but it will go on public display at a bike show in London next week.

Link via DVICE

The late fashion designer Alexander McQueen once designed high heeled shoes modeled after the movie Alien. They were a one-off production so, sadly, you won't be able to buy a pair and wear them to work.

via Great White Snark | Photo: Wicked Halo

Apparently there's a growing subculture of people who reenact scenes -- including replica clothing and vehicles -- from the 1979 Mel Gibson movie Mad Max. Fans are getting together in the California desert next month for a big meet-up called "Wasteland Weekend". From the official description:

Join the hundreds of fans coming from all over the the United States (and beyond) to gather in the Southern California desert. Set up camp at our wasteland compound, surrounded by specially-built sets. Costumes are required and post-apocalyptic campsites and vehicles are encouraged. Live for three days in a world pulled straight out of the Mad Max movies, beyond the grip of so-called civilization.

Top DJs from all over will provide the soundtrack, fire dancers and bonfires will light up the night, and modified vehicles will shake the earth with their engines.

Link via Ace of Spades HQ | Image: American International Pictures

Previously on Neatorama: Living Mad Max

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The immediate source for this post is Snopes, but I've snooped around some other sources. As a result, I'm reasonably sure that this story is true.

Alexander Courage wrote the orchestral theme to Star Trek (above video). Under the provisions of his contract, he was owed royalties every time that theme was run or re-run.

Gene Roddenberry, creator of the show, exercised an option to write the lyrics for that song, even though he had no intention of recording or performing them. This action cut Courage's payment in half -- which was Roddenberry's intention.

So, without further ado, here are the lyrics:

Beyond
The rim of the star-light
My love
Is wand'ring in star-flight
I know
He'll find in star-clustered reaches
Love,
Strange love a star woman teaches.
I know
His journey ends never
His star trek
Will go on forever.
But tell him
While he wanders his starry sea
Remember, remember me

Link via blastr

Previously on Neatorama:
Star Trek: TNG Opening Theme Now Has Lyrics

Verbal directions given by GPS navigation systems can be hard to hear in a noisy car. That's why researchers at the University of Utah are developing a navigation system that communicates driving directions through a tactile interface:

The researchers say they don't want their results to encourage dangerous and distracted driving by cell phone users. Instead, they hope the study will point to new touch-based directional devices to help motorists and hearing-impaired people drive more safely. The same technology also could help blind pedestrians with a cane that provides directional cues to the person's thumb.

"It has the potential of being a safer way of doing what's already being done – delivering information that people are already getting with in-car GPS navigation systems," says the study's lead author, William Provancher, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Utah.

Link via Popular Science | Photos: Nate Medeiros-Ward/William Provancher, University of Utah

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Eduard Khil, the 70's era Russian singer who became an Internet sensation several months ago, finally made a public performance. Here he is singing (lip synching) his trademark song when...Darth Vader, a gorilla, and Snow White show up. It gets weird pretty quickly.

via Urlesque

Flickr user MrsWoman knitted this wig that will make any man look cool, like The King. Sadly, she doesn't provide any instructions on how to make your own. But at her site, you can examine similar crafts that she's made.

Link via The Presurfer | Crafter's Website