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Or (c) give the kid a bottle of coke and a packet of mints. Many of my colleagues became scientists because they saw things that inspired them or did things firsthand, in the days when the chemist sold chemicals that could be used to make interesting products… from crystal gardens to more energetic materials.
Or (c) give the kid a bottle of coke and a packet of mints. Many of my colleagues became scientists because they saw things that inspired them or did things firsthand, in the days when the chemist sold chemicals that could be used to make interesting products… from crystal gardens to more energetic materials.
Yep, my interest in SW / Electronic Engineering came from playing on a ZX81 / BBC Micro, not watching the Shuttle launch etc.....
Bloodhound is I’m afraid to say a bunch of “old blokes” doing because-they-can stuff. The car if and when finished might have a bit of wow factor but mainly it’s for big little kids, like a few £100 million lego kit.
Think of it this way – to get a kid interested in rocket science do you (a) show them a rocket launch, (b) explain about the importance of o-rings to shuttle design.
But for (A) to happen requires some blokes in a very big shed to build the rocket. Any engineering is 99.99999999% boring routine, 0.000000001% 1000mph human piloted fireball across the desert, if it was the other way around no one would need inspiring.
In other news next years TdF has been canceled, it's been replaced by Chris Froome weighing pasta whilst Contador eats some imported steak as that's what the other 90% of his year consists of. This will hopefully inspire kids to ride their bikes.
My lad was interested in land speed cars just as Bloodhound came along. We went down to the very first supporters meeting and he (along with other kids) somehow sat through a day of lectures at age 7. Being able to approach Richard Noble and Andy Green left him speechless / frozen to the spot.
The education thing was at the front of the project from day one. We haven't had much involvement since, but it has definitely been quite visible and active throughout school, press, museums, motorsport events etc. The boy just got grade 9 in 3 sciences at GCSE so maybe sparking early year interest does help a bit.
The engineering challenge is massive. Not just strap on a massive rocket as the whole speed up / slow down has to be precisely controlled to keep g levels survivable (you can't just shut it off when flat out).
Hope they get the job finished, but in the background I've always been concerned how a fireball disaster would be explained to all the kids.....
Bloodhound is I’m afraid to say a bunch of “old blokes” doing because-they-can stuff
No I'd have to disagree on this there is an element of this yes but a lot of very you bright engineers have also gained some valuable insights on this job from those old blokes , and hopefully they are skills they will be able to take away<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;"> and transfer across, and whilst some of its basic stuff they would never get to do it in industry where they get pigeonholed into one area.</span>
Let's not also forget that those kids grow and as they grow they learn more about the science and engineering underpinning the project. Keeping it relevant certainly helps.
Just seen on the BBC that they didn't secure the funding so it's looking like the end of the project.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-46480342
Ah that’s a shame, gutted
Gutted. Seemed inevitable, but I still had hope
Very disappointing. Not going to say it was a waste but to get so close and then get shut down is gutting.
Great news - just hope the key folk that got it to this point keep their jobs/roles and that balance of record breaking and education can be maintained. Also that all the sponsors that got it the bulk of the way there don't have their logos scrubbed off the car to be replaced by a new lot.
Woohoo! Now just to wait for the next “what’s the point?” whinge
😬😬