Wanna see something cool #2

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,783
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Congratulations to Tara Dower for becoming the fastest person in history to complete the Appalachian Trail! The 31-year-old from Virginia completed the 2,168 mile (3,489 km) backcountry trail in 40 days, 18 hours, and five minutes, a distance usually covered by an A.T. thru-hiker in five to seven months.

To set the record, Dower ran and hiked an average of 54 miles each day on the often rocky and steep trail, which includes a total vertical gain of 465,000 feet as it runs through fourteen states. She started her daily runs at 3:30 am and continued for approximately 17 hours with several short breaks for meals and 90-second "dirt naps."

Dower used her record-setting run to raise money for Girls on the Run, saying that she hopes her feat will inspire girls and women. “I hope more women get out there,” she said. “It’s not about beating men, it’s about finding our true potential. And, you know, if you beat the men, that’s an extra bonus.” When she reached the trail's end on Saturday night, the exhausted but jubilant Dower fell to her knees and put her hands on the bronze plaque that reads, “A footpath for those who seek fellowship with the wilderness.”
 

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Tonyr1084

Joined Sep 24, 2015
9,744
Dower ran and hiked an average of 54 miles each day on the often rocky and steep trail, which includes a total vertical gain of 465,000 feet
465,000' ÷ 5280' (one mile) = 88.07 miles. I thought space begins just over 64 miles high.

Air liners set cabin pressure to that of the equivalent of 8,000'. At 14,000' all passengers greet the oxygen masks. Pilot is required by FAA to go on oxygen at a little higher than 8,000 but much less than 14,000 feet. I don't recall the actual numbers but I'm thinking 9,000' the pilot has to go on oxygen.

I dated a flight attendant. She said in her 14 years the only thing she ever experienced was cabin pressure loss. The pilot put the plain into a steep diver to get below 10,000 feet. If the story has a mistyped number, 46,000 feet is still very thin air. (8.7 miles)

[edit] see post #915. I've been corrected. [end edit]
 
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nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
16,334

https://www.cryptomuseum.com/intel/nsa/files/nsa_history_comsec_2.pdf

'The most successful use of pyrotechnics (thermate slabs, thermite grenades, and sodium nitrate barrels)
in Teheran occurred at the major Army Communications Center there. It had a number of cryptoequipments, but also served as a depot for pyrotechnic materials for the whole area. They piled all of their
classified cryptomaterial in a shed; covered them with their pyrotechnic material (some 300 devices), lit off the whole enchilada, and took off. The result was probably the largest single conftagration during the entire
revolution. Observers reported seeing flames shooting hundreds of feet into the air from posts several miles away. The building was, of course, consumed, and we assume only a slag pile remains.
(At this writing, about 15 months later, no American has been back.)
 

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
32,911
465,000' ÷ 5280' (one mile) = 88.07 miles. I thought space begins just over 64 miles high.

Air liners set cabin pressure to that of the equivalent of 8,000'. At 14,000' all passengers greet the oxygen masks. Pilot is required by FAA to go on oxygen at a little higher than 8,000 but much less than 14,000 feet. I don't recall the actual numbers but I'm thinking 9,000' the pilot has to go on oxygen.

I dated a flight attendant. She said in her 14 years the only thing she ever experienced was cabin pressure loss. The pilot put the plain into a steep diver to get below 10,000 feet. If the story has a mistyped number, 46,000 feet is still very thin air. (8.7 miles)
"Total vertical gain" is not the same as the net vertical gain. It only counts the upwards parts of the path.

So if the stairs from one floor to the next amount to ten feet, and I walk up and down the stairs one hundred times, I have a "total vertical gain" of a thousand feet, even though I was never more than ten feet above my starting point at any time.

For physical exertion, it's a useful metric. For many other purposes, it would be useless.

It's akin to saying that someone that lifted ten 100 lb bags of concrete lifted a total of 1000 lb. It is not claiming that they did it all at once -- perhaps they lifted them one at a time and did it ten times, or perhaps they did it two at a time and only did it five times.
 

Thread Starter

Tonyr1084

Joined Sep 24, 2015
9,744
"Total vertical gain" is not the same as the net vertical gain. It only counts the upwards parts of the path.

So if the stairs from one floor to the next amount to ten feet, and I walk up and down the stairs one hundred times, I have a "total vertical gain" of a thousand feet, even though I was never more than ten feet above my starting point at any time.
Excellent point.
 
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