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on_ t1_ja2s0zf wrote

Reply to TIL of the 1955 Le Mans disaster. French driver Pierre Levegh crashed into a crowd of spectators. The crash, explosion and subsequent fire killed 84 and injured more than 120. It is still the deadliest car race crash ever. by triviafrenzy

The fuel fire raised the temperature of the remaining Elektron bodywork past its ignition temperature, which was lower than that of other metal alloys due to its high magnesium content. The alloy burst into white-hot flames, showering the track and crowd with magnesium embers, made worse by rescue workers unfamiliar with magnesium fires who poured water onto the inferno, greatly intensifying the fire.[14][9] As a result, the car burned for several hours.

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on_ t1_j235iij wrote

Reply to ELI5 why do electric vehicles have one big battery that's hard to replace once it's expired, rather than lots of smaller ones that could be swapped out based on need (to trade off range/power/weight)? by ginonofalg

In reality they don’t have one big battery. Their big battery is a battery of batteries very similar in form to the ones you put on your toys. All those batteries need to work on unison, and need to have the most similar voltage, capacity and charge discharge cycles. If you could swap those individual cells you would create as many problems as you solve. And accessing them would be difficult because those packs are cramped between sandwiches of cooling layers. But hey, loading your car with batteries like bullets into an A10 plane ammo belt would be cool as F

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on_ t1_isgj777 wrote

Reply to comment by goltz20707 in TIL: Sperms were thought to move by wiggling their tails side-to-side, like eels, for 350 years. But research shows that they roll as they move forward like a spinning top. by vect77

That’s pretty amazing cause nature doesn’t like to evolve in rotary thingys. I think in macro world there’s only one insect specie that has a rotary mechanism? Our lives would be better if we as humans had segway wheels instead of legs.

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