Elimloth (elimloth) wrote,
Elimloth
elimloth
  • Mood: contemplative
  • Music: Birds of the pacific northwest

What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen sparrow

This all happened because Selene was talking about test questions she needed to develop for her psych class. I then glibly mentioned she might want to ask what the airspeed velocity of an unladen sparrow is*. So she asked me, “What IS the airspeed of either an English or African sparrow?” I blinked. I ran to my computer. I asked the great Google oracle, and it came back with the most inane responses. Because everyone has commented in the most inane way on this question, Google has ranked the inane answers well above the scientific ones.

After sifting through the memes and themes of our daily electronic spewage, I have learned the house sparrow's fastest speed is 33 miles per hour. I also learned why, since ancient times, sparrows have always been found in and near human settlements, and why in recent times sparrows have been raiding other birds nests.


http://www.nikon.co.jp/main/eng/society/birds99_00/200003/


http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/HH/tbh2.html


* The MS word editor insisted I end this sentence with a preposition.

Rene
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