The sun hung high, a wisp of wind blew, and the manhole cover lay there quietly. Looking at its blandness, have you ever thought that this tiny manhole cover once set the fastest speed record ever recorded? Yes, don't be too surprised, it was this humble manhole cover that once became the fastest man-made object on earth. Now, let's walk into this bizarre story together.
It's a long story, dating back to the 50s of the last century. At that time, scientists were working on a new type of weapon, nuclear weapons. However, for this infinite power, human beings' understanding of its laws is still very superficial, just like a child who gets a novelty toy for the first time, he is inevitably a little cautious when he is excited. So, a secret team decided to conduct a small experiment underground in the remote state of New Mexico.
You must be curious, is it so mysterious to do a little experiment? Haha, of course not. Just look at the "testing ground" of the gang: they dug a 150-meter-deep hole in the ground, where they were intending to detonate a small nuclear weapon. Doesn't that sound crazy? Yes, that's what they do!
But don't underestimate these scientists, they've done their homework before they start experimenting. The geological conditions were studied to ensure that the energy generated by the explosion was absorbed by the surrounding hard rock formations, the mass of the nuclei required for the test was carefully calculated, and a sturdy iron manhole cover was installed at the entrance of the cave just in case. Look, how professional and cautious!
When everything was ready, the scientists held their breath and pressed the detonation button. But then, a scene that surprised everyone happened -- there was a loud bang, and the huge manhole cover was blown away! It turned out that the energy released by the nuclear explosion was tens of thousands of times higher than the expected value. This crazy force shot the heavy manhole cover into the air in an instant.
It must be hard for you to imagine that a small manhole cover of less than 1 meter can speed away at an astonishing speed of 70 kilometers per second. Even the most advanced high-speed cameras can only capture its fleeting figure. Doesn't that sound incredible, but that's the truth, this mundane manhole cover set a record for the fastest speed in human history, even exceeding the limit speed of any flying machine at the time.
So where did the speeding manhole cover end up? What a mystery! Even scientists are puzzled. Maybe it's burned out at high altitude, or it's still flying at high speed somewhere in the universe, or maybe it's long since fallen into an inaccessible valley. Either way, this magical manhole cover leaves us with endless room for imagination.
Looking back on the whole incident, in addition to the amazing speed of the incident, what is more admirable is the humble and studious attitude of the scientists. In the face of the unexpected "ultra-high-speed phenomenon", they did not evade, but humbly sought advice and seriously studied the power and hidden dangers brought by nuclear energy to mankind. Yes, whenever we explore the unknown, we will always encounter some difficulties with uncertain prophets, but only by facing them calmly can we continue to make progress.
Finally, I would like to leave you with a little question to ponder: if one day, scientists really found the lost manhole cover somewhere in the universe, how do you think we should cherish it and pay tribute to it? Perhaps, you will give us an answer that we did not expect. Let's wait and see!
Disclaimer: The information in this article comes from the Internet, which is not guaranteed to be completely correct and is for reference only.