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January 25, 2008

Strange But True!

Q. Was it human hubris or flawed design that sank the “unsinkable” luxury liner the “Titanic” on its maiden voyage, killing 1,500 people out of the 2,200 on board, the world's most famous maritime disaster?

A. Blame it on a little pride and a lot of bad engineering, says Adam Weiner in “Don't Try This at Home: The Physics of Hollywood Movies.” The ship had design innovations that theoretically should have made it safer, such as the hull's 16 separate buoyant compartments divided by watertight doors. It was touted that the ship could stay afloat even if four of its sections were breached, but tragically on that night of April 14, 1912, a massive iceberg that outweighed the ship by about 5 to 1 punctured six compartments near the bow. In under three hours, the ship sank to the bottom of the Atlantic near Newfoundland.


 
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