SortStack #2143 — 2032-04-21

By speed · Order from slowest to fastest.

1. A honeybee in flight 22 km/h

   Bees communicate the direction of flowers by dancing, encoding distance and angle in their waggling moves.

2. A sea lion swimming 38 km/h

   Sea lions can be trained to detect underwater mines and even retrieve objects for navies.

3. The core of a jet stream 442 km/h

   Pilots ride these high-altitude winds to save fuel, which is why eastbound flights are often much quicker.

4. A volcanic pyroclastic flow 700 km/h

   A pyroclastic flow is a searing avalanche of gas and ash that buried Pompeii's residents almost instantly.

5. A Boeing 747 cruising 920 km/h

   The 747's hump exists because the cockpit was put on an upper deck so the nose could hinge open for cargo.

6. The X-15 rocket plane 7.3K km/h

   The X-15 flew to the edge of space, and several of its pilots earned astronaut wings without leaving a runway.

← All puzzles · Play today’s SortStack