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THE VIDEO SHELF · downwind faster than the wind

Risking My Life To Settle A Physics Debate

Veritasium investigates whether a wind-powered vehicle can travel directly downwind faster than the wind, driving the Blackbird craft himself. The video explains the physics behind a claim some physics professors dispute.

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Why HN readers recommended it

Frequently linked whenever wind-powered vehicles come up, as the clearest visual explanation of how the craft works.

This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.

Video & recommendation details

Creator / channel
Veritasium
Topic
downwind faster than the wind
Format
explainer
Level
general
HN recommenders in dataset
5
HN mentions in dataset
11
Recommendation years in dataset
2021–2023

These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.

From the original HN conversations

Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.

  • The visual that made it click for me was at 18:54 in the original video[0]. It shows the air hitting the propeller losing kinetic energy which becomes the energy ultimately making the vehicle go. I also don't know how you can watch the treadmill video …

    karmakaze on Hacker News · 2021-07
    In A Physics Prof Bet Me $10k I'm Wrong

  • Original video triggering the bet for context: [VIDEO] Video discussing the bet and going over criticism: [LINK] Veritasium is a great YouTube channel.

    kinjba11 on Hacker News · 2021-07
    In Science YouTuber Wins $10k Bet with Physicist

  • If you believe that sailboats can beat a drifting balloon downwind by zigzagging, then there is a very good explanation in the original Veritasium video that shows that this is essentially the same thing. Here's a link to the section of the video with that …

    tzs on Hacker News · 2021-08
    In A wind-powered vehicle that can travel twice as fast as the wind itself

Summaries, classifications and recommendation records are from the HackerTube source dataset. Read about this library and its limitations.

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