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Elon Musk, You're a Little Late!

09/04/2014 12:41 PM

The Alameda-Weehawken Burrito Tunnel

Who can imagine New York City without the Mission burrito? Like the Yankees, the Brooklyn Bridge or the bagel, the oversize burritos have become a New York institution. And yet it wasn't long ago that it was impossible to find a good burrito of any kind in the city. As the 30th anniversary of the Alameda-Weehawken burrito tunnel approaches, it's worth taking a look at the remarkable sequence of events that takes place between the time we click "deliver" on the burrito.nyc.us.gov website and the moment that our hot El Farolito burrito arrives in the lunchroom with its satisfying pneumatic hiss.

The story begins in any of the three dozen taquerias supplying the Bay Area Feeder Network, an expansive spiderweb of tubes running through San Francisco's Mission district as far south as the "Burrito Bordeaux" region of Palo Alto and Mountain View. Electronic displays in each taqueria light up in real time with orders placed on the East Coast, and within minutes a fresh burrito has been assembled, rolled in foil, marked and dropped down one of the small vertical tubes that rise like organ pipes in restaurant kitchens throughout the city.

Once in the tubes, it's a quick dash for the burritos across San Francisco Bay. Propelled by powerful bursts of compressed air, the burritos speed along the same tunnel as the BART commuter train, whose passengers remain oblivious to the hundreds of delicious cylinders whizzing along overhead. Within twelve minutes, even the remotest burrito has arrived at its final destination, the Alameda Transfer Station, where it will be prepared for its transcontinental journey.

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#1

Re: Elon Musk, you're a little late!

09/04/2014 1:52 PM

Fast as that is, they go through you even faster.

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#3
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Re: Elon Musk, you're a little late!

09/04/2014 2:23 PM

That explains the "satisfying pneumatic hiss".

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#2

Re: Elon Musk, you're a little late!

09/04/2014 2:19 PM

What is the minimum bend radius of a burrito?

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#4
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Re: Elon Musk, you're a little late!

09/04/2014 2:33 PM

Before or after consumption?

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#6
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Re: Elon Musk, you're a little late!

09/04/2014 3:01 PM

Swallowed whole or masticated?

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#5

Re: Elon Musk, you're a little late!

09/04/2014 2:33 PM

C'mon...at least wait until 4/1/2015 to post this one!!

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#7

Re: Elon Musk, you're a little late!

09/04/2014 3:12 PM

I had a dream about something like this.
Drone delivered burritos - GPS ready to triangulate on my mouth for delivery. This is the dream.

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#21
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Re: Elon Musk, you're a little late!

09/06/2014 6:06 AM

Nice dream anyway,

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#8

Re: Elon Musk, You're a Little Late!

09/04/2014 3:31 PM

I'm a little hungry....Who wants burrito's???? I'm buyin'!!!Yer flyin'!!!!

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#9

Re: Elon Musk, You're a Little Late!

09/04/2014 4:13 PM

Weehawken brothers injured by flying burritos!

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#20
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Re: Elon Musk, You're a Little Late!

09/05/2014 12:14 PM
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#10

Re: Elon Musk, You're a Little Late!

09/04/2014 4:37 PM

Will these burritos fly at 4000 MPH when they reach NYC?

For those of you that wish to do others homework, if a 4000 MPH flying burrito comes to an abrupt stop with 75% of the energy going to heating the burrito (15% to heating the hard stop and 10% to making the "splat" sound) how hot will the burrito be when it stops flying?

Please show all math for full credit.

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#11
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Re: Elon Musk, You're a Little Late!

09/04/2014 4:39 PM

There's no such thing as a "Good Question" vote, so a GA will have to do on this one. ;-)

Oh, I'll just have to add that the challenge question is incomplete without knowing the mass of the burrito. Can we assume that friction is negligible?

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#12
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Re: Elon Musk, You're a Little Late!

09/04/2014 5:11 PM

Naturally the student should indicate any and all assumptions or apparently not given parameters needed to answer the question.

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#14
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Re: Elon Musk, You're a Little Late!

09/04/2014 6:30 PM

Weighing-in at a hefty 1.7 pounds (771 grams), El Farolito's 'BBs' - Ballistic Burritos -are anything but. Compared to, say, La Taqueria's sabot-style burritos (1.3 lb/590 g in a parafoil wrapper that peels away automatically once launched) they are the undisputed heavyweight champions of West Coast faux-vato fare. Cross sections of each reveal a generous dollop of roughly-chopped tomato salsa in La Taqueria's, and no visible vegetable matter in El Farolito's. Both burritos are salty, but 'Lito's is extra salty. El Farolito's carnitas (braised pork that's been fried in fat prior to serving) has a soft, almost wadlike consistency reminiscent of shredded chicken, but the meat is spiced-to-burn-twice with what tastes like jalapeño and oregano. 'Lito's whole pinto beans are also well-spiced and salted. La Taq's meat tastes porkier and has a nice textural contrast between softer bits of meat and chewier, crisper bits. Its beans are a bit bland as if in protest but the vegetal, juicy salsa answers in delicious counterpoint. Neither pro-burrito maker creates too wet of a burrito: The construction typically remains intact throughout The Act.

It is difficult to say whether one is "better" than the other. All else being equal, El Farolitos' are clearly the winner if only out of sheer bulk. Aesthetically speaking, La Taq's may be considered a somewhat more 'refined' version with its slightly slimmer shape - the shape chosen less for aesthetics and more to reduce gastrodynamic drag during the projectile's trajectory through the customer's system, as proven at White Sands - and tomato element, whereas Farolito's is more like a stoned hipster's mushy-spicy-salty-fatty-panacea-on-a-Friday-night-after-the-whatever-let's-go-pork-out-I've-got-the-Munchies.

As I have grown older, I consume less of the "silver bullets" than I did in my 20s (it is why I have grown older), but I must say that eating them is like slipping back into a nicely broken-in pair of comfy, slightly ripe Chuck Taylors.

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#16
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Re: Elon Musk, You're a Little Late!

09/04/2014 9:34 PM

Assumptions

Mass: 1.7 pound = 0.771 kg

Length: 8 inches

Vel: 4000 mph = 1788.16 m/s

75% KE = 5.770157165e+24 eV

Assumed average temp on arrival after having just travelled deep underground: ~320 °F

Assume homogenous salted pork, specific heat = 1.3 kJ/kg-°C (applicable for 1.136e-4 seconds only)

ΔT = 5.770157165e+24 eV / 7.71e-1 kg * 1.3 kJ/kg-°C = 1195.51 K

Tfinal = 320 °F + 1195.51 K

Answer: 2440 °R

SPL of 'splat' @ 1m: >194 dB, SP >101,325 pa (shockwave)

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#17
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Re: Elon Musk, You're a Little Late!

09/04/2014 10:07 PM

That is one hot, loud burrito. A++

You even used the arcane Rankine temperature scale, cool.

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#13

Re: Elon Musk, You're a Little Late!

09/04/2014 6:14 PM

Excellent write-up. Any more links on how BART can cope with quakes ? It'd be nice to hear more good stuff - TV constantly rattles on about San Fransisco 1906 conspiracy stuff (doctored photo's and so on).

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#15
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Re: Elon Musk, You're a Little Late!

09/04/2014 7:39 PM

Yes, forget Amazon drones. DARPA is just finishing the rail gun version to launch these puppies just short of LEO.

Coming in at a blistering Mach 15, coast to coast delivery will be almost as fast as your credit card is processed.

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#18
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Re: Elon Musk, You're a Little Late!

09/04/2014 10:50 PM

It's only a matter of time before the UK has a Taco Bell on every corner. Even if not religious, get down on bended knees and pray you never get lured to a Brit kebab shop.

Who the heck needs DARPA. Given the money (feel free to donate), I can get as much surveillance kit as I'd need. Is that a pesky mosquitoe......eeek....it could be an Etherville quadrocopter. Oops, I could go cheap and just get to the postie.....What the hey, I'll just snitch you lot to NSA. Not that it's easier, just a lot more fun .

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#19
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Re: Elon Musk, You're a Little Late!

09/05/2014 10:38 AM

Now with ablative wrapper!

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