odie5533
- Entertainment & Gaming
The Science of Star Trek
As a long-time aficionado of the original Star Trek series, it's always exciting for me when I hear that Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock are going to make a reappearance on the big screen. Although it'll be a bit strange without William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy running the show, what recourse is there? We've got the next generation playing the previous one. Anyway, in the trailer we get a glimpse of the juvenile origins of the future Captain Kirk's daredevil thrill-seeking persona, not to mention his incredible physical prowess. In the scene in question we see young James T. leap out of his classic convertible sports coupe moments before it projects itself off of a several-thousand-foot precipice. James saves himself by gripping the sandy ground and pulling himself to a stop just as he reaches the edge of the cliff.
12.27.2008 at 08:50am - Comment by odie5533It's a magic braking car, not magic fingers. I'm surprised everyone missed it, but when you look down the cliff after the car flies off, it lands only a short distance from the cliff. And if you watch it fly off, it appears to just barely go off the cliff. He's about half a car-length away from the edge when he jumps, so he'd easily be able to stop himself. If anything, he slid too much. Think of daredevils that jump multiple car lengths. That car only fell a few lengths from the edge when it went down. It was going REALLY slow when he jumped. michaelgvh, putting on the brake in your car does not change from kinetic to static friction. Static friction occurs when the object is not moving, while kinetic friction occurs when the object is moving. If the car is moving, it's kinetic. It doesn't care whether your wheels are locked or not.
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December 2009: Best of What's New
In our December issue, Popular Science names the 100 best innovations of the year: bombproof wallpaper, self-parking cars, the fastest helicopter, and 97 more. Plus inventor profiles and videos.
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