from kottke:

Here’s the original problem essentially as it was posed to us: “A plane is standing on a runway that can move (some sort of band conveyer). The plane moves in one direction, while the conveyer moves in the opposite direction. This conveyer has a control system that tracks the plane speed and tunes the speed of the conveyer to be exactly the same (but in the opposite direction). Can the plane take off?”

What do you think? It’s a tough question, especially because of how it is worded.

I read this a few months back and at first I got it wrong, along with a slew of other people, including professional and amature pilots alike. This question became so popular that Mythbusters picked it up and (after a few delays) just aired an episode dedicated to this question. I missed the episode, but the event was liveblogged by Jason Kottke fantastically. Don’t read the post until you’ve spent some time thinking about the problem. Talk it out with a friend. The debate will surprise you. Before you read up on the outcome of the Mythbusters’ experiment, take a look at the original post linked at the top of the page and sift through the comments for a while. It is really interesting to see the different theories.

One of the best parts about this, I think, is that even though the Mythbusters have “proven” how the plane may or may not take off, there is still HUGE debate about it on the Mythbusters forums.

On a semi-related note, do you think it is as ridiculous as I do that someone liveblogged a TV show that almost everyone has access to? I understand that it was for his own amusement, but this just shows how much blogging has changed since its inception.

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