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The Science of Santa's Long Strange Trip

By Anthony Cerminaro

"It's a question that has puzzled kids and grown-ups for centuries: How does Santa Claus get all those gifts to millions of homes worldwide in just one night?...

Santa expert Larry Silverberg, a noted U.S. engineer and...professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University in Raleigh...believes that Santa...and the elves have made scientific breakthroughs that the rest of humanity can only dream of...

To most children, Christmas Eve seems like a few very long hours. Not so for Santa, though...

"What we know about physics is that, in one reference frame, distance and time look different than in another," Silverberg explained. "Time can dilate -- get much longer -- and space can contract. That's exactly what you'd need to deliver millions of gifts around the globe on one night."

...Santa uses his advanced knowledge to wrap his sleigh and eight reindeer in a "relativity cloud."

"So, inside the cloud a month might go by, but it would only feel like a split-second outside the cloud -- for example, in a child's bedroom," the expert said. "Santa probably also shrinks and expands the cloud, so he can enter houses through tiny openings. A chimney is one such entryway, but he might also enter through keyholes, doggy-doors..."

Silverberg's team at NCSU performed detailed calculations using this relativity model. "We found that in six months, a fleet of 750 sleighs could get to all of the homes on Earth, traveling an average of 84 mph in the relativity cloud," he said. "Of course, outside the cloud, all that happens on Christmas Eve."...

He also wanted to clear up one misconception. "I believe that Santa does not bring toys from the Pole to each home -- that's just far too bulky and inefficient," the scientist said.

Instead, the jolly gent uses sophisticated nanotechnology to build toys and other presents in a flash, right there on the family living-room floor..."

Read more in this LiveScience.com article

Full post as published by Bizz Bang Buzz Blawg on December 24, 2007 (boomark / email).