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Post by ironhold on Dec 14, 2017 6:58:11 GMT
The "Initial D" franchise is still so endearingly popular that the original comics have gotten another adaptation (this time as an animated movie series), so here goes.
Male lead Takashi is the only son of a rather stern single father. The family business is a tofu shop that his father runs out of a building on the family's property, which is located at the top of a small mountain. (This is Japan, after all.)
When Takashi turned 14, his dad decided that Tak was old enough to make the morning deliveries all on his own despite the boy not being legally old enough to drive. Thus, at about five in the morning (give or take) Tak would hop in the family car (a Toyota AE 86 Corolla "Trueno"), drive down the hill, and drop off the first round of product before driving the car back home and catching the bus to school.
Given that many of their customers are restaurants and so time is of the essence, Tak is under pressure to get the job done quickly. But the softer varieties of tofu will be damaged with rough handling, meaning he can't simply floor it even on the straightaways.
To resolve the matter, Tak's father has a solution: he takes a glass, pours in water up to a certain level, and places it in the car's cup holder. As he tells Tak, so long as the water doesn't splash out of the glass, the tofu will be just fine. That is, any driving hard enough to make the water splash out will also damage the merchandise.
So -
1. Is tofu, especially the softer varieties, really that fragile?
2. Is the water glass a good analog to help ensure that the tofu is riding properly?
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Post by the light works on Dec 14, 2017 15:52:42 GMT
I can't speak for tofu physics, but water in a glass should give a reasonable "rough ride" measurement - as long as it is calibrated correctly. this does seem like something that would be a reasonably entertaining minimyth.
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Post by ironhold on Dec 16, 2017 6:21:18 GMT
Another one I remembered from the early volumes of the comic:
Takashi, now 18, is so dominant a street racer that despite driving a stock Trueno against custom street racers he can't be defeated on his home turf.
This leads to a challenge from a rival street racing club, one that devolves into the "Duct Tape Death Match".
Basically, the two competing racers have to have one of their hands duct taped to the steering wheel, which supposedly makes it a lot harder to steer. Given that they're going downhill on a mountain road, this is massively risky.
Takashi actually comes out ahead on this one because he's driving a stock vehicle. The seat is the stock seat that shipped with the car, while his competitor is driving a purpose-made racing seat comparable to what you'd see a low-budget pro team or a high-budget street team would use. The racing seat is pretty well fitted, but the stock seat literally gives Tak some wiggle room. Thus, he can get more steer out of the wheel by literally shifting his body around as much as he can while still belted.
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Post by the light works on Dec 16, 2017 9:43:12 GMT
Another one I remembered from the early volumes of the comic: Takashi, now 18, is so dominant a street racer that despite driving a stock Trueno against custom street racers he can't be defeated on his home turf. This leads to a challenge from a rival street racing club, one that devolves into the "Duct Tape Death Match". Basically, the two competing racers have to have one of their hands duct taped to the steering wheel, which supposedly makes it a lot harder to steer. Given that they're going downhill on a mountain road, this is massively risky. Takashi actually comes out ahead on this one because he's driving a stock vehicle. The seat is the stock seat that shipped with the car, while his competitor is driving a purpose-made racing seat comparable to what you'd see a low-budget pro team or a high-budget street team would use. The racing seat is pretty well fitted, but the stock seat literally gives Tak some wiggle room. Thus, he can get more steer out of the wheel by literally shifting his body around as much as he can while still belted. assuming it is taped tightly to the wheel, so it can't twist, stock seatbelts might allow a few more degrees of turn than a racing harness would. of course, if the racer had a higher rate steering box, it would negate that advantage by turning sharper proportionate to the motion of the steering wheel. |
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Post by silverdragon on Dec 16, 2017 10:54:53 GMT
Another one I remembered from the early volumes of the comic: Takashi, now 18, is so dominant a street racer that despite driving a stock Trueno against custom street racers he can't be defeated on his home turf. This leads to a challenge from a rival street racing club, one that devolves into the "Duct Tape Death Match". Basically, the two competing racers have to have one of their hands duct taped to the steering wheel, which supposedly makes it a lot harder to steer. Given that they're going downhill on a mountain road, this is massively risky. Takashi actually comes out ahead on this one because he's driving a stock vehicle. The seat is the stock seat that shipped with the car, while his competitor is driving a purpose-made racing seat comparable to what you'd see a low-budget pro team or a high-budget street team would use. The racing seat is pretty well fitted, but the stock seat literally gives Tak some wiggle room. Thus, he can get more steer out of the wheel by literally shifting his body around as much as he can while still belted. This is all down to how much articulation you can get in your wrist. If the hand is taped so it cant release grip at all to the wheel, even me, who drives constantly one handed [yeah, I know, bad habit?. I have worn the steering wheel down in one position on the wheel noticeably over its 90,000 miles by doing this..] if I cant move my hand and allow the grip to change, I have little to none articulation in the wrist, past close to one full turn of a wheel... not quite a full turn, but close.... hang on whist I get my old racing wheel out?. Yeah, as I say, about one full turn. Now on to the car. If the car is fitted with a quick rack, think the turning ability of a F1 car when it can go lock to lock in one full rotation of the wheel, you have ideal turning on that street racer. If, however, like a stock built road car you have two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half turns of the wheel to get from lock to lock?. That dependant on power assisted steering of course. Now to the road. If this "Mountain road" is of the USA variety in that you could turn a passenger ferry between the radius of that gentle bend, nay problem, bring it on, I can do that... If your turning radius is less than a "Brick yard" racing oval, and you have HGV's that have to take each bend with great care to not wipe out both sides of the road at the same time, then if you dont have a quick rack, then you have a problem. If the hand is taped in the centre of the wheel at the top, you have half a turn in each direction. Seat wiggle may give you about eighth of a turn extra, thats 16th each direction, but, by doing that, your shifting your ability to operate pedals at the same time.... Your also destabilising the vehicle. I would say to the detriment of handling equivalent to equal to being held fast in the seat by a proper harness, that gives you predictable handling. But then again... There is a reason for propper racing seats and harnesses and why they are in use. Its not just safety, its a handling advantage. Distance from the wheel to the seat would affect ability more. As in, the closer you are, the more flexibility you get in pointing your elbow at the roof to go round a left turn?. If you are on to having a pro- seat in the vehicle, you have probably also upgraded suspension, brakes, steering, Traction control, and a whole lot more, including that "quick rack" I spoke of. Its not just the car, its the driver, but, the better the car, the better the driver CAN be, so, this has a lot of unknowns until you know whats under the skin of the car?. And also, what car. If the pro- car is a little shorter, and has a shorter wheelbase, it corners better to the detriment of straight line speed, if the suspension geometry has been "Fiddled with", your getting better turning, there is a whole lot more on suspension setup that matters here. But having your hand taped to the wheel... well that all depends on the car the course, the difference between the cars, and the skill of the drivers. If, however, you have a WRC Pro-Rally driver in the car, all bets are off, because even I have "the knowledge" of the Swedish Flick to handbrake a car around a turn that you cannot possibly do without a three point turn otherwise. And if I start hand-braking the car, and you dont know how, on a tight road, you loose at the first corner?. Can I demonstrate that? Yes, if you can take 20yrs of wear out of my back first please?.. If you wanna get ahead, get a Fin, go see all those talented WRC Finland population that can show you much better than I can describe here. But, entirely plausible, however, not at all possible to prove, because those who know how would not do that, and those that would do that do not know how? If they did, they wouldnt do that. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To test, I suggest you rig a vehicle to only have one complete turn of the steering wheel from one side to the other, and see how tight you can make it corner. Then test a few drivers on a variety of seating positions, to see who can turn a steering wheel more, with their hand stuck in one place on the wheel, and you dont even need to be in a car to do that. All you need is a racing wheel from any toy store. A USB game racing wheel when connected to IMAP mapping software will also digitally tell you how far it has been turned. Any of this of any help to anyone?. To summarise, two stock vehicles racing down hill. Take a "Dodge Challenger" that has a good stock as supplied at time of original sale, and the other car an OLD mini with say a 1275 GT engine in it but otherwise stock, plausibly from the same time period of back in the 70's80's... the Mini would be sold as a 1275 GT Cooper "special"... Take two WRC champions, or even the same driver taking turns, and race it down a tight twisty mountain road. My money is on the Mini.... Telling the diver to keep the same grip all the way, see how far they could get doing that. Repeat with "The best money can buy" upgrades... Less mass to turn, and nimbler suspension, my money is still on the mini?.. but maybe not as much this time. |
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Post by the light works on Dec 16, 2017 13:24:06 GMT
apparently, you haven't watched the Pike's Peak hillclimb recently
this one is a bit long.
it occurs to me watching some of the older footage that they may have been drifting in order to avoid having to shift gears as often.
I couldn't find a video of the shifting process in racecars of the 20s to 50s.
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Post by ironhold on Dec 16, 2017 20:16:30 GMT
It's a Japanese mountain road. Two lanes at best, with "lane" being used loosely. You might be able to get a delivery lorry up or a metro bus up and back, but that's about it.
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Post by the light works on Dec 16, 2017 20:36:44 GMT
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Post by silverdragon on Dec 17, 2017 15:21:01 GMT
"Pre-select" is still around, and is part of the modern world on semi-automatic gearboxes, and I have been driving them for decades, including back to when I drove Bus, when the pre-select was a 4 position forward 1 back gear stick, you select the next desired gear, to trigger a change in gear, you just came off the accelerator completely and step back on.
To hold a gear, you just dont select a new one.
Many modern european buses use preselect / semi-automatic gearboxes.
New systems have electronic change, almost exactly the same, you press up or down to select next gear,, and come off the throttle to trigger that change, but, you can, by multiple presses, pre-select 2 to 3 cogs either side...
The engine management will decide of that can be done, as in, if you try to preselect a gear outside the ability of the engine to comply, it just goes to the gear it can get and ignores further presses.
Thus "Block changing" is possible, in some trucks.
Semi-automatics are quite fashionable and quite desirable in Modern european trucks, it takes away the "Missed gear" mayhem when you miss a cog and have to just stop and start again....
Having up to 18 gears and not being quite sure where all of them are, can be a bit disconcerting?.
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Post by the light works on Dec 17, 2017 16:46:56 GMT
"Pre-select" is still around, and is part of the modern world on semi-automatic gearboxes, and I have been driving them for decades, including back to when I drove Bus, when the pre-select was a 4 position forward 1 back gear stick, you select the next desired gear, to trigger a change in gear, you just came off the accelerator completely and step back on. To hold a gear, you just dont select a new one. Many modern european buses use preselect / semi-automatic gearboxes. New systems have electronic change, almost exactly the same, you press up or down to select next gear,, and come off the throttle to trigger that change, but, you can, by multiple presses, pre-select 2 to 3 cogs either side... The engine management will decide of that can be done, as in, if you try to preselect a gear outside the ability of the engine to comply, it just goes to the gear it can get and ignores further presses. Thus "Block changing" is possible, in some trucks. Semi-automatics are quite fashionable and quite desirable in Modern european trucks, it takes away the "Missed gear" mayhem when you miss a cog and have to just stop and start again.... Having up to 18 gears and not being quite sure where all of them are, can be a bit disconcerting?. yes, the mechanism is the same as the flappy paddle shifters, considering the modern technology that is now used. the only thing with modrn ones is how much you want to micromanage them. before I put the extra weight on my truck, when I went for a "passing gear" launch, it would shift 3 times in the time I could have manually shifted once, and then a fourth time about a half second later. now, of course, it takes a bit longer to accelerate all that mass. and, of course, shifting a bike works a bit similarly. you preload your shift lever, and when you are ready to shift, you just unload the transmission to let it shift. |
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Post by silverdragon on Dec 18, 2017 7:44:56 GMT
One of the things I retain from the racing days is the ability to swap cogs on a "mortal" car almost faster than an automatic... modern expensive ones with dual clutch and seamless shifting scare the crap outa me on how much faster they are than me, but they are rather tasty technology and do the throttle interrupt a lot faster than I can twitch my right foot, so, for that type of car, hats off, they got it?.
I did once try to attempt a racing change for a truck, yeah, right, that works well, [-/sarcasm?]they are a little more patient on throttle response, you dont get to do that. Sound of crunch says you tried to early...
I also tried an automatic Bike, well, the owner did warn me, pneumatic gear change on a racing bike, went like a stabbed rat up a drainpipe, he did warn me "Hang on", but that sequential box on push buttons swapped cogs faster than I had talent?.
And the bike had way WAY to much thrutch.
He was a Disabled rider, so had no left foot, had the bike adapted, brake on right, gear change on left, but the push buttons on the handlebar where you indicators would normally be, indicators added to right handlebar a bit further along the bars, next to the lights control.
Swine also had heated handlebars for cold weather...
You could still change gear manually if needed, by use of his prosthetic leg, if he was trying to find neutral to stop, just the pneumatics pushed the leavers for him at speed.
edit, Early throttle interrupt just interrupted the distributor systems, that why many of them got flames out the exhaust with unburnt fuel.
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Post by the light works on Dec 18, 2017 15:07:56 GMT
One of the things I retain from the racing days is the ability to swap cogs on a "mortal" car almost faster than an automatic... modern expensive ones with dual clutch and seamless shifting scare the crap outa me on how much faster they are than me, but they are rather tasty technology and do the throttle interrupt a lot faster than I can twitch my right foot, so, for that type of car, hats off, they got it?. I did once try to attempt a racing change for a truck, yeah, right, that works well, [-/sarcasm?]they are a little more patient on throttle response, you dont get to do that. Sound of crunch says you tried to early... I also tried an automatic Bike, well, the owner did warn me, pneumatic gear change on a racing bike, went like a stabbed rat up a drainpipe, he did warn me "Hang on", but that sequential box on push buttons swapped cogs faster than I had talent?. And the bike had way WAY to much thrutch. He was a Disabled rider, so had no left foot, had the bike adapted, brake on right, gear change on left, but the push buttons on the handlebar where you indicators would normally be, indicators added to right handlebar a bit further along the bars, next to the lights control. Swine also had heated handlebars for cold weather... You could still change gear manually if needed, by use of his prosthetic leg, if he was trying to find neutral to stop, just the pneumatics pushed the leavers for him at speed. edit, Early throttle interrupt just interrupted the distributor systems, that why many of them got flames out the exhaust with unburnt fuel.I do wish I had taken a video of doing a hot run in old 23 before it went off to be the neighbors' yard ornament. had me a good understanding with that truck, and I haven't been able to find video of anyone else with quite the same style. |
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Post by ironhold on May 11, 2018 22:53:58 GMT
Let's have this as a catch-all for anime & manga myths that don't involve long-running series (the kind that could support threads of their own). ** Kaze No Yojimbo, episode #14 - A man named George Kodama arrives in a rural Japan in an effort to locate someone. He's informed that the person he's after left a long time ago, but before he can leave he's pulled into the middle of an underground war between two organized crime families that are trying to take over the town. Before too long, he finds himself employed by the front companies of both syndicates, making him a go-between of sorts. In the episode, Kodama is informed that the two syndicates have called a truce. His services are no longer needed, and his presence is no longer wanted. Rather than leave, however, Kodama stays in order to continue his investigation. Because of this, someone is sent to assassinate him. Kodama wears military-style dog tags; this is a plot point in the first two episodes, as the female lead finds them after he drops them. He's also shown as being quite athletic, and clearly knows how to handle himself in a fight. I've not seen the show all the way through yet, but to me this rather heavily implies that he spent time in the military at some point. Given this, it's no surprise that Kodama is able to discern that he has a tail. Kodama makes a point to purchase a can of coffee from a vending machine, at which point he obviously walks into a park and enters the facility's public restroom. The assassin waits outside in order to strike Kodama with a pipe, only for Kodama to spring a trap of his own. When the assassin knows that he cannot win, he runs away. Kodama responds by grabbing the can of coffee (which is still full) and throwing it at the assassin. He hits the assassin in the back of the head, and the force of the blow is enough to knock the assassin down. [1] Could a person throw a full can of coffee with the level of accuracy Kodama displays, especially at a moving target? [2] Could a blow from a full can of coffee be enough to knock a person down? Bumping this particular one up. Here in the US, there's a new cola commercial - Sprite (c) soda - that has a similar premise: a baseball player named Big Taste is trying to strike out a batter named Thirst, and since it's a soda commercial Big Taste is lobbing cans of soda. |
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Post by silverdragon on May 13, 2018 7:33:59 GMT
Bumping this particular one up. Here in the US, there's a new cola commercial - Sprite (c) soda - that has a similar premise: a baseball player named Big Taste is trying to strike out a batter named Thirst, and since it's a soda commercial Big Taste is lobbing cans of soda. What you need there is Jamies Little Friend, Remember that one?. Forward to trying to score a home run batting the can outa' the grounds?. I call fail on that. Reasons being, baseball bat a can of soda yourself for full understanding, but you have a "launched" can of soda, and I know already that a thrown can can be quite explosive when opened, add to that a baseball bat hitting that can, and I doubt the can, probably aluminium, is built to take that kind of violence, what you will get is a shower of soda and bits of can in all directions except behind the batter?. On the can leaving the general area, de-caning the area, I just asked Mrs Dragon, she expects the can to explode at some point, if it explodes early, what are the chances of weak aluminium wrapping itsself around the bat?. If, on the big chance of if, you manage to score a hit on a tumbling can, right on the base, which is typically stronger than the sides, you may get some distance, but, on 100 cans, I suspect less than 10 are going anywhere outside the immediate area?.. and then, if the soda leaves that can, being thats 90% of the mass of the can of soda, what would you say are the rules of getting a can of soda any distance if "most" of the soda remains on the batter?. Yeah, good idea, looks like fun to test, but, unless Buster stands up to the crease, I suspect your going to want a robotic bowler and robotic batter. On the batter score, a robotic system using a XBoy "Kinect" camera type system, and a little coding, you could get the bat into the way of the can a lot more predictably than a premier league baseball player?. |
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Post by ironhold on Aug 4, 2018 3:38:11 GMT
"Space Adventure Cobra" TV series, episode 5
Cobra is being hunted by a sniper with a powerful laser rifle.
In order to avoid being killed, Cobra runs into an abandoned mine shaft.
As Cobra soon discovers, someone believed that there was still gold to be had in the mine, and so invested in a brand-new machine known as a "rock melter" to help dig through it. Cobra decides to use the machine against the sniper by turning it around, activating the melters, and moving towards the sniper. As he predicted, the sniper's laser blasts are distorted by the heat put off from the melter.
Thing is, the beams are literally shown curving dramatically rather, than, say, arcing.
1. Can any human-made device create enough heat to melt rock?
2. How would a laser beam react if fired through such intense heat?
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Post by GTCGreg on Aug 4, 2018 4:39:17 GMT
"Space Adventure Cobra" TV series, episode 5 Cobra is being hunted by a sniper with a powerful laser rifle. In order to avoid being killed, Cobra runs into an abandoned mine shaft. As Cobra soon discovers, someone believed that there was still gold to be had in the mine, and so invested in a brand-new machine known as a "rock melter" to help dig through it. Cobra decides to use the machine against the sniper by turning it around, activating the melters, and moving towards the sniper. As he predicted, the sniper's laser blasts are distorted by the heat put off from the melter. Thing is, the beams are literally shown curving dramatically rather, than, say, arcing. 1. Can any human-made device create enough heat to melt rock? 2. How would a laser beam react if fired through such intense heat? You are a mere mortal and you are questioning Cobra? I'm sure glad that I'm not you. |
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Post by the light works on Aug 4, 2018 5:19:42 GMT
such a machine is theoretically possible, but the power demands would make it prohibitive with present tech.
the next depends on whether it is an actual laser,or if it is some other sort of beam weapon. it also depends on the precise method of producing the heat.
theoretically superheated air in front of the machine could refract the laser, but there are more variables than I can nail down.
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Post by ironhold on Aug 13, 2018 6:05:08 GMT
"Space Adventure Cobra", episode 13
Cobra believes that a pirate guild leader known as Hammerbolt Joe is responsible for the disappearance of a transport shuttle that's carrying gold.
Sure enough, Cobra's right. Cue the final battle taking place inside the portion of Joe's casino satellite where the gold is being stored.
Flying fists are a popular weapon in anime, and Joe's got two of them. But whereas most fists are rocket-powered, Joe's fists are turbine-powered; when he goes to fire them, turbine blades emerge from his forearms (they encircle and rotate around the arm like a plane's turbine fans, so they're horizontal to the arm itself). To fight against this, Cobra tells this episode's accomplice to... deactivate the artificial gravity in that part of the satellite.
So... would turbines not function in zero-gravity?
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Post by the light works on Aug 13, 2018 10:39:39 GMT
"Space Adventure Cobra", episode 13 Cobra believes that a pirate guild leader known as Hammerbolt Joe is responsible for the disappearance of a transport shuttle that's carrying gold. Sure enough, Cobra's right. Cue the final battle taking place inside the portion of Joe's casino satellite where the gold is being stored. Flying fists are a popular weapon in anime, and Joe's got two of them. But whereas most fists are rocket-powered, Joe's fists are turbine-powered; when he goes to fire them, turbine blades emerge from his forearms (they encircle and rotate around the arm like a plane's turbine fans, so they're horizontal to the arm itself). To fight against this, Cobra tells this episode's accomplice to... deactivate the artificial gravity in that part of the satellite. So... would turbines not function in zero-gravity? They would not work in zero atmosphere, but all zero g would do is make them tend to hit above the usual point of aim. |
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Post by ironhold on Nov 28, 2018 3:39:50 GMT
Maid-Sama!, episode 5 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Maid_Sama!_episodes The premise behind the series is that when tomboy Misaki's father walks out on the family, he leaves behind so much debt that everyone has to pitch in. This leads to Misaki having to sheepishly accept a job at a theme cafe where the staff dress and act like maids and servants. In the episode, it's learned that someone has been bushwhacking young women who work at theme restaurants. They wait until the target venue is closed for the night, then see whoever is last out the door. If it's a young woman, they're upon her. Despite the danger, Misaki is tasked with locking up by herself after the manager is called to a last-minute meeting of local shop owners. Given that she's ranked in akido, she gets a bit too over-confident and so doesn't properly secure the building. This allows the attackers a chance to slip inside and overpower her. Fortunately for her, when her boyfriend Usui found out that she was going to be closing up by herself he decided to jaunt on down and check on her. When he hears the struggle, he grabs a heavy flower pot, breaks a window, and goes in. This is all the diversion Misaki needs, and she soon dispenses with the handcuffs they put her in. Between Usui (there are direct parallels between him and Batman) and Misaki, the attackers don't have a chance. Thing is, instead of popping the lock open, picking it, or slipping a hand out, Misaki simply goes Incredible Hulk and wrenches the chain between cuffs apart simply through spreading her arms apart. Is it even vaguely possible to do that to a properly-manufactured set of handcuffs?
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