I couldn't resist posting this, especially for our friends on the other
side of the pond.
Chicken Story
Did you know about the propellant device that NASA
scientists developed for the purpose of launching dead
chickens?
The reason for this "gun" is to have a way to simulate the
occasional, deadly incidents of airplane collisions with
airborne fowl, and so determine whether the planes'
windshields are strong enough to endure the impact of
high-speed bird strikes.
With it, the scientists can shoot a dead chicken at the
windshield of civilian or military jet planes, or even at
the space shuttle, at the vehicles' maximum traveling
velocities.
British engineers, upon hearing of the gun, were eager to
test it out on the windshield of their new high-speed trains.
However, the first time they fired the gun, the engineers
watched in shock as the fowl shattered the windshield,
smashed through the control console, snapped the
engineer's backrest in two, and embedded itself into the
back wall of the cabin.
Horrified, the engineers immediately sent the results of the
experiment to the NASA scientists, along with the design
of the now-smashed windshield, and asked urgently for
any suggestions.
The NASA scientists sent back a one-sentence response:
"Thaw the chicken."
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