Interesting concept. But I suspect there was an AI and/or writer hallucination involved in some of the description details.
US Hypersonic Engine Breakthrough Sparks Global Response from China and Others
With the successful flight test of a Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE) by Venus Aerospace, the United States has accomplished a significant milestone in hypersonic propulsion. This next-generation engine, which has been theorized since the 1980s, provides previously unheard-of thrust and efficiency, allowing cars to leave conventional runways and reach speeds of Mach 4 to Mach 6. The RDRE promises both defense and commercial applications because it is small, inexpensive, and scalable in contrast to conventional rocket engines.
Emphasis added.
No matter how cool that is I do not want my car leaving a runway and reaching speeds of Mach 4 to Mach 6. I am quite certain the brake technology on present day cars is inadequate.
Your mileage may vary.
Alexa told me the area of a 12-inch diameter circle is 1,385.4 square miles. Um, no.
I asked again, thinking it misheard me. Same answer.
I read the text of the conversation; it heard me correctly both times. Must be using some kinda new math us mere mortals can’t comprehend.
I imagine a bug strike on the car windshield at Mach whatever might not buff out.
Was she calculating it in Hexadecimal?
New math, new new new math;
It’s so simple, so utterly simple, that only a child can do it!
Next week, we do fractions! H/T Tom Lehrer.
I used to work with hex, octal, and BCD. Fun times.
Rest assured, I filled out the Alexa feedback form with a vigorous thumbs down. There was an earlier egregious math error which also perplexed me.
OT rant: why, oh why, does the AI say one temperature while displaying one a few degrees different? I could see speaking in Fahrenheit while displaying Celsius or Kelvin just for funsies. Today’s forecast high hex temp here is 5A.
😀
++++
Yaaaa, I’d like to watch it on the Bonneville salt flats first. something tells me it ain’t that easy traveling at 1 mile per second anywhere close to the ground.
And Robert is spot on about bugs. Not to mention a sudden hailstorm.
At the salt flats! Wow! I would bet the flats would not be flat afterward. I expect there would be a trench about 10′ deep (or bedrock, whichever comes first) from the Shockwave.
Bugs, sand, leaves, anything…
As an aside re the Bonneville Salt Flats: on a trip in 2008 we found there was no gate at the end of the road to the flats, leading to us driving out in our RENTAL Mazda3, and when spouse said “ I dare ya…” we discovered how 95mph in a rent-a-car on salt feels… all dancy and squirrelly.
Rolled out of the throttle ‘n got ‘er slowed and turned around when spouse said “lemme try!” She did well, too. 😺
Ha!
Rental Agent: Why were you going 95mph when you crashed?
SP RN: It wouldn’t go any faster.
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I was a passenger in a Jaguar when we swerved off the road to avoid rear-ending a stopped car. We were doing 140mph. It was exciting. Once was enough.
At least you had 4 wheels to help manage stability. A bit more tense with only two to work with 🙂 BT;DT on track and street.
The braking technology is fine, we just might have to switch to thrusters instead of rotors.
Oh, wow, brand new technology! Pulse detonation engines!
Wasn’t the German V-1 powered by a pulse-detonation engine, thus leading to its nickname of “buzz bomb”?
Yes. But this is much different. It was first conceived in the 1980s.
On the plus side merging into highway traffic would be easier.
Negative side the G loading might be a bit much for granny.