Things That Go Fast

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Things That Go Fast

Pixelaneous #39

Almost everybody likes speed.

The thought of going faster than anyone else has inspired man: everything from countless drag racing movie scenes to the use of steroids in pursuit of the title of "World's Fastest Human".

We knew a few of the "fastest things" below--the fastest animal and bird--but were surprised about several of the others. While researching info for a completely different project, we stumbled upon the M1-J10, the world's fastest tank.

It was so surprising, we checked on some other "things that go fast".

We present eight of them. How many of these did you know?

Land: Fastest Tank

Currently, the largest tank ever built, the M1-J10 Main Battle Tank, nicknamed "Jihadi Slaughter" or "JaySlaw" for short is being built in Lima, Ohio by General Dynamics. The JaySlaw measures nearly 90 feet in length, 35 feet wide and stands almost 2 stories high. The main weapon of the M1-J10 is a 478mm smoothbore cannon, designed by the Rheinmetall Corporation of Germany. Engagement ranges approaching 22 miles were successfully demonstrated during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The JaySlaw has been clocked at a speed of over 200mph in desert sand which is simply astounding considering the vehicle weighs more than a thousand tons.

Land: Fastest Production Car

The Bugatti Veyron may no longer be the world’s fastest car. Today — following a number of teasers and leaks — Barabus officially unveiled the TKR: a new 1005 horsepower supercar the automaker says is capable of doing zero to 98kph in 1.67 seconds. What’s more, the car reportedly has a top speed of 270 mph — nearly 20 more than the Veyron. Power comes from a 6.0 liter V8 twin-turbocharged with dual intercoolers.

Water: Fastest Fish

Sailfish: Reaching speeds of up to 68 m/h it's the fastest fish on the ocean, it's an exciting and extraordinary opportunity to shoot such a photo of a Sailfish with it's sail raised.

Air: Fastest Plane

Rocket planes aside, the SR-71 Blackbird holds the current record speed of 2,242 mph set in 1990. There are rumors of a black project aircraft with greater performance, but nothing has been announced.

Much faster jet aircraft are in operation, but they are unmanned. These vehicles use a scram jet, a type of jet engine that will not operate below the speed of sound. It must be launched from a supersonic aircraft or using a rocket booster. The Boeing X-43 project funded by NASA has flown at 7,546 mph (mach 9.8). Another scram jet used a gravity assist in a dive to near mach 10.

Land: Fastest Animal

The fastest land animal in the world, the cheetah is a marvel of evolution. Capable of running up to 70 miles per hour, the cheetah’s slender, long-legged body is built for speed. Its spotted coat, small head and ears, and distinctive "tear stripes" from the corner of the eyes down the sides of the nose make the cheetah highly
recognizable among the large cats of Africa.

Land: Fastest Diesel

British construction equipment manufacturer JCB's DieselMax:
350 MPH world-record run on the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Air: Fastest Bird

Peregrin Falcon: "The peregrine falcon is perhaps the fastest animal on earth. In a stoop, or dive, the peregrine has been clocked at speeds of over 180 miles per hour."

Water: Fastest Inflatable

Auckland, 07 December 2007: Hitting record breaking speeds of over 100kph, a Sealegs 6.1m rigid inflatable boat today sped to new World Record fastest on water speed for an amphibious vehicle in Sydney harbour, this morning. 500m of water was covered in the World Record time of just under 18 seconds.