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    #46
    I have a love/hate relationship with the 'New Routemaster'.

    I really like the way they look from the outside (the glass all the way up the staircase is great) and the soft lighting used at night time is delightful, but the actual cabin and seating is much more cramped than the less sexy but basically more functional ordinary bus models. It's also not particularly great how the door at the rear folds inwards, ruthlessly crushing anyone in its path with maximum prejudice. You learn to squeeze out of the way pretty fast, but still. It's not especially ergonomic.

    I think I only ever took the old ones once or twice. I always thought they mostly ran the number 15 route with them for general vibe around the Strand more than anything else.

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      #47
      When I were a lad.... etc.

      Routemasters used to run all over SE London and the edge of Kent, where I lived (obvs. also in Central London) though by the 80s they'd phased most of them out, except the 229.
      I lived at the top of a pretty steep hill and as a schoolboy thought I could save a 10 min walk from the bus stop by jumping off the back as it crawled up the hill.

      As it neared the top of the hill, on a slight bend, I realised I had misjudged the speed of the bus once the gradient was lessening. Still, I was too invested in my plan to stop, so I leapt out as we reached the corner of my road with the full intent to hit terra firma running. I landed one foot on the pavement before my momentum overtook any potential energy my body may have possesed and I landed flat on my chest, knocking all the wind out of me with a howl and ripping my trouser and knee open. With no air in my lungs, all I could do was whine loudly and look at the faces of passengers and the conductor wincing simultaneously as the bus disappeared over the slight brow of the hill. This, whilst my packed Puma school bag rolled in an ungainly fashion back down the slope towards me, like some suburban British take on a Peckinpah movie.

      Never tried it again.

      A couple of days later, the same conductor, a slim man of Mediterranean appearance, took me aside shortly after I boarded and gave me a bollocking about how stupid I was and how I could have ended up under the wheels. He was right, of course.
      Last edited by gunrock; 15-04-2021, 18:10.

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        #48
        Not even 120 years after the Wright brothers we have achieved automated flight on another world

        The Ingenuity drone completes the first powered, controlled flight by an aircraft on another world.

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          #49
          That's fantastic, not as good as 100%'ing EDF5 but it'll do.

          Two great comments on the BBC page;
          "Now we just need a Martian to tell NASA they need a drone permit..."

          and..

          "
          The USA will find some way to destroy the indiginous people dont you worry"

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            #50

            Rewilding efforts in Australia have finally seen the first wild births of Tasmanian Devils in the country in over 3,000 years

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              #51

              And organism found frozen in Siberia that dates back 24,000 years is still alive and can reproduce... and no, it's not a member of the Avengers

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                #52
                Virgin Galactic is launching a new space age, where all are invited along for the ride.

                The first commercial, starring Richard Branson, space flight is about to go live

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                  #53
                  As much as I'd love to experience...



                  From the moment the full burn ended to the point re-entry began was just under 1 minute 50 seconds. At $250,000 per seat...

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                    #54
                    It reached a height of 50000ft.
                    Considering the world record for a plane flight is 76000ft its not really much of an achievement. He didn't even actually leave the atmosphere.

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                      #55

                      Hair, bones and a partial left ear have been uncovered in Pompeii belonging to a former slave who rose through the ranks and was entombed in AD79. The remains are thought to be the best persevered ever found.

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                        #56
                        Darpa have created the worlds first 'Warp bubble'. All be it, tiny.

                        Warp drive pioneer Dr. Harold G “Sonny” White has reported research results that he believes could theoretically manifest a warp bubble under laboratory conditions.


                        ... We don't need eyes to see...
                        Last edited by Cassius_Smoke; 06-12-2021, 17:52.

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                          #57
                          Breakthrough on plasma fusion energy.
                          A full 5 seconds of plasma energy. The important thing about this is that:

                          1. The containment unit can't last any longer because of the heat inside, so it achieved its maximum time.
                          2. Plasma has a habit of trying to disperse or leave the container its in, so simply holding it in position is a triumph.
                          3. Stable plasma will net you more energy then it takes to generate, so on a larger scale you'll have positive free energy.

                          A lab in Oxfordshire takes a big step towards harnessing the energy source of the stars.

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                            #58
                            The only issue is if they turn the containment unit off. Then you end up with a city full of ghosts.


                            Seriously, it's an interesting story as it's something I'm really ignorant about. From the 'analysis' section at the bottom of the story though, it's apparent we're many decades away from this being practically applicable.

                            I guess all we can hope for is that we haven't completely ****ed up Earth by that point.

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                              #59
                              Fairly sure that if they soaked cornflakes in milk, then left them to dry out as a cylindrical shape they could use that to contain the plasma for a lot longer than 5 seconds.

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                                #60
                                Originally posted by Brad View Post
                                Fairly sure that if they soaked cornflakes in milk, then left them to dry out as a cylindrical shape they could use that to contain the plasma for a lot longer than 5 seconds.
                                Or dryed on wheatabix... tougher than beryllium.

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