Aerodynamics

Why golf balls have dimples

You’d think a totally smooth surface would be better at flying through the air with the least amount of wind resistance. So why do golf balls have all those little indentations? So they can use the air against itself. Ah, golf, the thing you watch when nothing else is on and you’re not energetic enough…

Baseball Players Would Never Use the Performance-Enhancing Reebok Vector O Bat

In America’s pastime, where honor and fair competition reign and unfair advantages are never tolerated, there is no place for the “aerodynamic” Reebok Vector O baseball bat. After all, ballplayers would do anything to avoid besmirching their sport! The Vector O bat features three little air vents just above the handle to decrease both weight…

Research UAV is Preview of Hovering Spy Drones of Tomorrow

Meet STARMAC, the Stanford Testbed of Autonomous Rotorcraft for Multi-Agent Control. Possibly the cleverest remote control mini-helicopter you’ve ever seen, packed with GPS, sensors and computer power. It’s a research quad-rotor that the Stanford team is using to develop algorithms for future aircraft like it. The algorithms the team develops will allow hovering ‘bots like…

Japanese Astronaut’s Space Boomerang Came Back

Japan’s Takao Doi has just checked out an aerodynamics conundrum we were all curious about: would a boomerang return when thrown in zero-G? World boomerang champion Yasuhiro Togai had asked him to find out, you see. So, taking time out from his work aboard the International Space Station, he gave it a whirl. The answer:…

The Bad Astrology And Universe Today forum has a hilarious list of the Top 5 Sci-Fi Aircraft That Would Fall Like A Rock. Turns out the laws of aerodynamics still apply, even in the future. Image by Franz66

180mph Car Treadmill Great for Designers, Dangerous for Pilots

Check this full size Nascar sitting on top of a steel belt sliding at 180mph. While wind tunnels have been used to design cars for years, the results can be affected by the fact that the ground is still. This machine solves that problem, in truly dramatic and dangerous fashion. Just like NASCAR itself. The…

Aptera Concept Car: 330mpg, Under $20K

Yeah, you’re laughing at this weird-looking half-egg-shaped concept car now, but when gasoline costs $10 a gallon not too long from now, this 330 mile-per-gallon Aptera concept car might start looking pretty damn good. It cops that high-mpg efficiency with a fuel-sipping diesel engine lashed onto hybrid technology, coupled with its wind-slippery aerodynamics and 850-pound…

TECA Concept Vehicle: Whats Wrong With This Picture?

Certainly not for the claustrophobic, here’s a new idea for a motorcycle body that s supposed to give you more energy efficiency, safety and convenience when you’re riding that crotch rocket of yours. This concept vehicle from design group TECA is made of carbon fiber composite and honeycomb, and with its aerodynamic shape is said…