The burning question whose answer you've all been waiting for has been answered!

[lance_sibley]

This was posted at TrekBBS, and I thought I'd pass it along for all of you Monty Python fans out there:

Estimating The Airspeed Velocity Of An Unladen Swallow

I must say, the author went to a lot of trouble to work this out. Do read right to the bottom of the page - and I mean right to the bottom of the page.

Comments

[elizard100.livejournal.com]

My answer to this has always been that it depends on what you're swallowing. ;)

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

LOL!

Well, if you're swallowing, presumably it's not airborne. ;)

[gurudata.livejournal.com]

Hiho,

What you're swallowing... on a plane? :)

Cu,
Andrew

[elizard100.livejournal.com]

Not necessarily.

[elizard100.livejournal.com]

Oh and if that question keeps burning you should try putting some aloe vera on it. :)

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

*grin*

I keep meaning to try that for my eczema. It should work as a moisturizer, no?

(And this was actually a serious response.)

[elizard100.livejournal.com]

Yes, aloe vera should be good for that. :)

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

Perhaps, but the question was out there. How could someone not answer it? :)

[psiphiorg.livejournal.com]

His favorite color is blue? Hilarious! :-)

davidh

[evil-admiral.livejournal.com]

We had a take home quiz in Calc three about finding the torque of a swallow with a coconut under one of its wings (I guess it was laden then, but how it could carry a thing three times its weight I don't know) given how far out on a branch it was perched and how much its total weight was. The result was IIRC that if the branch was spun around the point where it connected to the tree then before the bird was flung off the branch it would have about 53 inch-ounces of torque around that connecting point. =P

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

(I guess it was laden then, but how it could carry a thing three times its weight I don't know)

It's a simple matter of weight ratios. A six ounce bird cannot carry a one-pound coconut. ;)

(Though the website says that the average adult European Swallow weighs 20.3 grams, which is less than three-quarters of an ounce. I wonder if that's a typo - it doesn't seem likely, but the footnoted website matches.)

given how far out on a branch it was perched and how much its total weight was. The result was IIRC that if the branch was spun around the point where it connected to the tree then before the bird was flung off the branch it would have about 53 inch-ounces of torque around that connecting point. =P

This sounds like the kind of problem my high school physics teacher used to give us on tests. I don't recall him being a Monty Python fan, but his questions were usually pretty silly.

[hoskie.livejournal.com]

Hahahaha. Incredible!

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

I know. Imagine having the time to sit down and do all that. :)

Wow....

[(Anonymous)]

So was it an African or European swallow?

That seems a bit excessive productive, yet pointless, thorough thought.

And can a swallow carry a coconut?

Re: Wow....

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

So was it an African or European swallow?

According to the article, it was a European Swallow (Hirundo rustica).

And can a swallow carry a coconut?

Well, two of them could carry it on a line...