While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- The Shinkansen, commonly known as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railways in Japan.
- 1960s: The trains’ high speeds created intense pressure waves that produced sonic booms when the trains exited tunnels.
- 1980s: Engineer Eiji Nakatsu noted that the kingfisher bird could dive into water at high speeds while barely creating a splash.
- The kingfisher’s beak gradually widens from tip to head, allowing the bird to transition smoothly between air and water.
- Nakatsu and the other engineers redesigned the train nose based on the kingfisher’s beak structure to improve the train’s transition between tunnel and open-air environments.
- The redesign reduced pressure buildup, eliminating sonic booms.