What’s faster than Santa? GE’s Industrial Internet
Throughout the history of humankind we have innovated towards better and quicker ways of transporting information, from great towering ships that crossed oceans to shining metal machines that traversed the skies.
Of course at this festive time of year there’s one figure renowned for his mythical powers to travel across the globe. So here we take a look at man’s history of transporting information, and ask the question – what’s faster than Santa?
Man – 44.72 km/h
Hand to hand transfer of information is as old as communication itself. Nowadays of course, we rely on the postman. If you’re really lucky, that postman could deliver mail to you by hand at a maximum top speed of 44.72 km/h. That is of course assuming your postman is Usain Bolt, the fastest man to have ever lived.
Horseback – 70.76 km/h
For centuries horseback messengers were a crucial element in the rapid exchange of information. The fastest ever recorded horse was Winning Brew in 2008, clocking in at 70.76 km/h. It’s only just beating Usain Bolt, but thankfully horses go a little further than 100 metres.
Homing Pigeon – 140 km/h
Homing pigeons have long been domesticated for the ability to navigate their way home over long distances, serving as man’s winged messengers for thousands of years. Pigeons are said to have carried the results of the first Olympics and delivered word of Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo. With suggested top speeds of 140km/h, that’s a lot of speed to deliver messages.
Boat – 552 km/h
Man’s ability to traverse the ocean opened up our world. Information was key to this expansion, just as it still is today. The fastest ship brought the fastest news. In days gone by that job fell to clippers, three-masted sailing vessels of the 19th century. The Sovereign of the Seas claimed title of the fastest on record, clocking in at 41 km/h.
Of course, the fastest water-going vessel ever was in more recent times, 1978 to be exact. The Spirit of Australia achieved the highest ever speed recorded over water, at 552 km/h. I don’t suspect they’ll be using it to cross the ocean anytime soon, however since both attempts to beat this record have sadly ended in tragedy.
Train – 603 km/h
The great railroads that opened up the American West are perhaps the most potent example of the power of railways in bridging the communications gap over long distances. But if we’re talking fast trains, then nothing quite beats Japan’s Maglev. The iconic bullet train clocked in a maximum speed of 603 KM/H, covering a mile every 10 seconds, using electromagnetic levitation to create a near frictionless ride.
Automobile – 1,227 km/h
Automobiles brought rapid transport to the masses like never before. They opened up an accessible world of communication transport for people the world over.
The fastest car ever recorded is far from accessible to the masses. However, if you really wanted to deliver a message quickly over land, assuming that land was a flat plain in a Nevada desert, the Thrust SSC is what you’re after. At 1,227.985 km/h, it’s the fastest automobile that’s ever existed.
Airplane – 7,274 km/h
If the oceans opened up our world, the skies made transporting information quicker and more globally accessible than ever. The fastest plane to ever take to the air was the X-15, one of an experimental fleet of American aircraft that tore up the skies above Nevada in the 1960’s.
With a top speed of 7,274 km/h, it could fly you a message from Kuala Lumpur to New York in less than 2 hours.
Fastest Man-made Object - 144,840 km/h
At 25 miles-per-second, the Juno Mission Spacecraft is the fastest man-made object in existence. It aims to travel the stars in its mission to expand human understanding of the gas giant planet Jupiter. If only NASA had known that Santa was faster!
Santa – 10,703,437.5 km/h
Coming in somewhere far ahead of Juno, is Santa. It is estimated he would have to travel 1,800 miles per second to get his job done, that’s a staggering 10,703,437.5 km/h. At this kind of speed it’s almost a wonder he doesn’t have to stop to eat more mince pies. That’s to say nothing of the 3 million reindeer required to carry the weight of presents.
GE’s Industrial Internet – 1.079e+9 km/h – The Speed of Light
GE’s industrial internet solutions transfer information at the speed of light, correlating data points from across the world to analyse and put data at our fingertips. By leveraging the huge wealth of global machine data and providing the analytics to act on that data with real-time insight, GE offers not just speed, but opportunity.
In a world built on information, speed is truly of the essence. Thanks to GE’s secure Predix platform and advanced industrial internet capabilities, the industry now has faster, more detailed access to that information than ever before. And there’s one thing we can be sure of – he might be quick on his feet come Christmas Eve, but GE’s industrial internet is that little bit faster than Santa.