Wacky news that makes you go "wtf?"

[kriesel]

"if a tire has a maximum load capacity of 2,000 pounds, but normally carries only 750 pounds, doubling the load to 1,500 pounds is approaching the design limit. Here the traction may only increase by about half the extra load. If the design load is exceeded, the situation gets worse." https://nasaspeed.news/tech/wheels-t...tire-traction/

Ford Expedition tire capacity is stated as 2064 lb at https://www.thecarconnection.com/spe...xpedition_1997
Loaded weight was previously estimated as 8400 lb, so slightly beyond tire capacity at rest. Tire downforce shifts to front tires considerably during hard braking in forward motion, so the front tires were significantly overloaded when it mattered most. Brake force proportioning front/rear is designed in, based on a normal range of mass and cg location. Severe overloading by dozens of passengers rear of the front seats places greater demand upon the front brakes, than on the rear brakes where there is more than usual available downforce as a fraction of the total.
Front braking effect would be reduced because useful coefficient of friction was reduced by tire overload during braking, likely leading to skidding and further reduction in coefficient. Rear braking effect would be reduced because the proportioning of force to rear brake actuation was low for the overloaded-vehicle condition, leaving the rear tires rolling without optimal slip for maximum braking effect.
That's in the best case, functional brake system operating to specifications.
In the case of worn out brakes, or previously sustaining damage to brake lines, such as driving through brush and over a newly removed section of old border wall, there may have been little or no hydraulic braking effect.

Some accident analysis case studies and a link to an analysis software site are here.

[tServo]

The US air force has posted a notice asking for bids to reverse engineer some parts for the B-2 bomber. It is not exactly stated why this needs to be done for the 20 year old planes, but speculation is that Northrup destroyed the blue prints and tooling of the originals.

This is pathetic, especially considering that B-52s are still operational despite the last one having been built in 1962 ! They have gone thru numerous refits, upgrades, and replacements.
I guess Boeing is able to hold onto their planes' plans better than Northrup.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...=pocket-newtab

[Dr Sardonicus]

Originally Posted by tServo

The US air force has posted a notice asking for bids to reverse engineer some parts for the B-2 bomber. It is not exactly stated why this needs to be done for the 20 year old planes, but speculation is that Northrup destroyed the blue prints and tooling of the originals.

This is pathetic, especially considering that B-52s are still operational despite the last one having been built in 1962 ! They have gone thru numerous refits, upgrades, and replacements.
I guess Boeing is able to hold onto their planes' plans better than Northrup.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...=pocket-newtab

There may be some kind of dispute between the USAF and Northrop Grumman.

The problem seems to be replacing "load heat exchanger cores."

Many years ago, I had a car whose heat exchanger core needed to be replaced. Ouch!

Rummaging around online turned up the fact that the USAF signed a maintenance contract with Northrop Grumman for the B-2 in 2015. I don't know the length of the contract.

I also ran across an item about the USAF's 2021 budget request, in which it had greatly scaled back the modernization program for the B-2:

WASHINGTON — After years of delays and technical issues, the Air Force is restructuring a key B-2 modernization program, transforming it from a suite of technologies meant to help the bomber evade Russia and China into a less ambitious cockpit display upgrade.

In the Air Force’s fiscal year 2021 budget request, the service zeroes out the Defensive Management System Modernization program, or DMS-M, over the next five years. Instead, it intends to put about $155 million toward a cockpit upgrade that will include a more advanced graphics processor and modernized displays.

I have no idea whether this has anything to do with the situation.

[Dr Sardonicus]

I heard about this recently, and it sounded like a done deal. Apparently not!

Super League near collapse as the 6 English clubs withdraw

LONDON (AP)] - All six English clubs dramatically abandoned plans to join a European Super League on Tuesday, imploding the breakaway project with Spanish and Italian counterparts within 48 hours of the announcement.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham deserted the plans for a largely-closed midweek competition amid an escalating backlash from their supporters and warnings from government that legislation could be introduced to thwart them.

[rogue]

Originally Posted by Dr Sardonicus

I heard about this recently, and it sounded like a done deal. Apparently not!

Super League near collapse as the 6 English clubs withdraw

Is this the new Brexit?

[Dr Sardonicus]

Originally Posted by rogue

Is this the new Brexit?

My (admittedly very limited) understanding is that under the current setup, teams are selected for the Champions League based on recent years' performances. However, in the proposed European Super League there would have been 15 teams permanently in the Champions League, regardless of recent years' performances. It seems a lot of fans viewed this idea as anticompetitive.

It appears that the European Super League is now awaiting reincarnation.

[kriesel]

Sheesh, you'd think a prominent organization with global reach such as the AP could afford a decent proofreader or software to perform the function.
"has a qualification criteria".
Criteria are plural (multiple); criterion is singular (one).
https://www.thefreedictionary.com/criteria
Similar to how data are plural, and datum is singular, or radii and radius.

[Uncwilly]

Originally Posted by kriesel

"has a qualification criteria".
Criteria are plural (multiple); criterion is singular (one).

Originally Posted by https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/criterion

Is criteria singular or plural?: Usage Guide
The plural criteria has been used as a singular for over half a century. "let me now return to the third criteria" — R. M. Nixon "that really is the criteria" — Bert Lance. Many of our examples, like the two foregoing, are taken from speech. But singular criteria is not uncommon in edited prose, and its use both in speech and writing seems to be increasing. Only time will tell whether it will reach the unquestioned acceptability of agenda.

Language changes, deal with it.


Also, the whole sentence is more complex than you read it as.
"which has a qualification criteria based on a team’s performance in the domestic league." It has a qualification schema based upon..... would not make you concerned. The whole complex of criteria is based upon ....

[axn]

Originally Posted by kriesel

Similar to how data are plural, and datum is singular

And you have fallen foul of my pet peeve. While technically "data" is plural and "datum" is singular, modern usage of data is as an uncountable noun, and hence should be "data is ...". No one uses "datum," btw, except to state it as the singular of data. I have yet to see datum "being" used in a non-trivial way.

[retina]

Then some of you might hate the words bacteriums and bacterias.

Language changes with usage. If people use those words then the language simply reflects that.

Anyhow, I've gotta get back to analysing why that data point was uncorrect. Out of all the datas, only that one are unright. Perhaps all those criterions I have are too strict. I'll have to ask my staffs about it.

[rogue]

Originally Posted by axn

And you have fallen foul of my pet peeve. While technically "data" is plural and "datum" is singular, modern usage of data is as an uncountable noun, and hence should be "data is ...". No one uses "datum," btw, except to state it as the singular of data. I have yet to see datum "being" used in a non-trivial way.

I use "datum" frequently to name java classes that represent a collection of attributes associated to a single object. This naturally flows into using "data" as a plural to represent a collection "datum" objects.