On Christmas Eve , millions of kid around the worldly concern will settle uneasily into bed , hardly able-bodied to bear themselves . What vision could possibly trip the light fantastic toe through their heads , turning them into twitchy , uneasy insomniac for just one night ? Is it the Sugar Plum Fairy from Tchaikovsky ’s ballet " The Nutcracker " or the sugarplum from Clement Clarke Moore ’s verse form " A Visit From St. Nicholas " ? Can sugarplums really do such a thing ?
chance are the child are remember about toys , Santa Claus and his squad ofreindeer . If the youngster have been courteous this twelvemonth , jolly quondam St. Nick should be land his sled on their roofs sometime latterly during the night .
Everyone has their own traditional persona of Santa ’s sleigh , but there is almost sure enough more to it than just a sled and a squad of eight reindeer . Although no one may ever bonk for sure just how Santa operates , we at HowStuffWorks have what we guess are the most logical explanations for how the braggart guy accomplishes all that he does : science and engineering .
Sure , demystify Santa ’s modus operandi puts us at risk of getting nothing but ember in our stocking this year , but it ’s all for the noble following of yuletide knowledge . After all , have you ever wondered how Santa ’s sleigh fly ? What about the reindeer ? How do they pull his sleigh across the globe injust one night ? And how does Santa correspond all of those presents into one bag ? Keep reading to pick up more about the technology that might motor Santa ’s sledge , establish on our in force prepare speculation .
Sleigh Technology
Rustic on the outside and state - of - the - art on the inside , Santa ’s sleigh would have to be a marvel in engineering science . allow ’s break down the chief components of St. Nick ’s sled that we think he ’d need to get across the world in one night .
The Sleigh’s Interior
Based on films and instance , Santa ’s sleigh look sorcerous , though antiquated , but we surmise it ’s direction more cutting - bound than he lets on . Think about it — does n’t it make sentience that Santa ’s elves would have adopted an " autopilot " organisation that would give any Tesla a run for its money ? The North Pole gang might call it something dissimilar , but rest assured that Santa ’s sleigh is almost for sure equipped with the most advancedautonomous , self - flying engineering science out there .
If we were the team in burster of Santa ’s prophylactic , we ’d equip the sleigh with a specialblind spot monitoring systemspecifically design to alarm Santa and the caribou to the comportment of aircraft and gravid wench . ( Santa has to stay hidden , plain . ) The sled ’s distinctive rearview camera would also get an upgrade , and it ’s in all likelihood design to scan in every commission to assure Santa ’s way of life is always clear for lampoon and landing . This system would most probably even be assist bythermal imagingcameras so the sleigh can automatically manoeuver away from other airborne obstacle .
The sled ’s dashboard is in all likelihood be dominated by Santa ’s ownGPSnavigator so theelvescould map out Santa ’s millions of point well before Christmas Eve , just to make certain Santa does n’t miss anyone . The sleigh in spades has a built - in " Naughty - or - decent " sensor that keeps Santa updated on tiddler ’s activeness , right down to the last min . This is authoritative , as even the most minor of naughty works institutionalize within the final few hours of Dec. 24 can specify whether children get what ’s on their giving list or rather receive lumps of ember .
Aspeedometeron the sleigh ’s splashboard take into account Santa to supervise his fly hurrying , and a state - of - the - artradiokeeps him in constant touch with Mrs. Claus and the team in the North Pole . They send him min - to - minute updates on local conditions story and miniature inventory .
Transdimensional Present Compartment (The Bag)
When it come to Santa ’s toy bag , you ’re probably wonder how he fits all of those presents into one bag . Think of a transdimensional present compartment in the form of a traditional gift sack . As in Santa ’s toy bag as we know it really acts as a portal between the sleigh and the North Pole . However , we ’d also like to cerebrate that Santa may have harnessed the power ofnanotechnologyand found a elbow room to miniaturise trillion of present into one large purse . But this information remains unconfirmed .
The Stardust Antimatter Propulsion Unit
We suspect that Santa ’s sleigh incorporates a stardustantimatterpropulsion unit for index , and that ’s still a very tangible possibility . Here ’s how it would work .
Antimatteris the opposite of regular matter — the mirror ikon of normal atom that make up everything we can see or pertain . The big draw to antimatter is the amount of energy it help oneself create . When antimatter and topic come into contact , theyannihilateeach other — breaking aside into tons of modest speck — and 100 percent of their masses commute into energy .
Although antimatter propulsion roquette are principally used in science - fiction shows to set aside spaceship to travel at warp swiftness , the hypothesis of designing one is very real — NASAis currently develop one that would get us to Mars within a subject of week [ beginning : NASA ] .
Now , we have reasonableness to believe Santa ’s clever elves would have project out a elbow room to mix this kind of stardust antimatter propulsion unit with an electric motor , for a mellow - tech , one - of - a - kindhybrid powertrain . Why , you might call for ? It plainly get to gumption . If Santa knows who ’s juicy and prissy , Santa surely also knows that electric vehicle are the direction of the time to come . He ’s just doing his part to try out to prevent planetary warming from melting the North Pole .
Keep reading to learn how Santa remain comfortable during the busy night of his year .
One Cozy Cockpit
We ’ve already blab out a fiddling about how Santa continue in skin senses with his North Pole command centre during his trip . His infotainment arrangement with navigation and artificial satellite radio is pretty canonical , if not essential . But there are a few more features that help Santa make the most of his misstep .
We bet , for deterrent example , that the brownie have borrowed a antic from mainstream car maker and installed Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone integrating — we wo n’t speculate whether Santa ’s a Google guy cable or an Apple aficionado , but his sledge is believably equipped for either scenario . Santa can apply voice realisation to text Mrs. Claus , get up on his favorite podcasts , or listen to what we ’re pretend is an heroic Christmas play list .
Anyone who subsist in a northern climate will narrate you that a massive overcoat , woolly hat , and teemingness of facial hair are n’t enough to keep you warm on the cold-blooded day … never mind at nighttime . Throw an heart-to-heart - breeze sleigh and some elevation into the mixture and you ’re looking at a pretty uncomfortable drive . Rest assured , the elves have Santa ’s back . Literally . There ’s almost no style that Santa has n’t taken advantage of one of the greatest excogitation of our time — heat seat and guidance wheel . Santa would probably take a custom design to comfortably accommodate his size , but this would be a pretty leisurely labor for the handy of his elves .
Have you ever seen someone driving a convertible with the top down on a chilly day and wondered what they were thinking ? If the auto in question was a Mercedes , the driver might have been enjoy the uniqueAirscarf , a feature that uses special volcano to buffet the equipment driver ’s neck in a warm breeze , keeping chills at Laurus nobilis . Mercedes - Benz has been fuck to customize vehicles for the pope , so it ’s not too much of a stretchiness to think they might lend a hand to Santa , too .
Rest ascertain , we are n’t overlooking the most well - known members of Santa ’s crew . Keep reading to larn more about Santa ’s reindeer and how they manage to vanish .
Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now Prancer and Vixen!
Santa ’s late rising slope to independent engineering and an galvanising powertrain have made the reindeers ' job a short leisurely , but the herd is still creditworthy for a flock of the heavy lifting . Sleighs are great sleds or carriages used for transportation in colder climate — they have two runners on the bottom instead of wheels , do it easy to barrel acrosssnowand methamphetamine hydrochloride .
With the aid of kineticenergy , a sled can easy travel downhill . But once it plateaus , it require impulse to keep move and navigate any extortionate terrain — or in Santa ’s case , take flight . But what if the stardust antimatter propulsion unit hybrid system of rules malfunctions ? Enter plan B : Greenland caribou , theenginesbehind the sleigh .
What we jazz about these purple creatures — away from their regular diet of carrot — is that these particular reindeer would need wings to the right way vanish . Paolo Viscardi , a flight physiologist from the University of Leeds , suggests that Santa ’s reindeer would need a 33 - foot - farseeing ( 10 - beat ) wingspan in order take flight of steps , and a goodish team of Greenland caribou would be require to come up Santa ’s sledge [ source : The Guardian ] . An extra author of warmth from the hot cocoa maker in the dashboard would send out hot aviation , do like a thermal whole in ahot air balloon , give the reindeer an extra lift that Viscardi recommends for optimal flight conditions .
According to the famous verse form " A Visit from St. Nicholas " by Clement Clarke Moore — and the disgruntledelf — a team of reindeer drives Santa ’s sleigh . These are the reindeer we bed of : Dasher , Dancer , Prancer , Vixen , Comet , Cupid , Donner / Donder , Blitzen and Rudolph .
Of of course , the most widely recognized caribou is Rudolph . Folklore has it that during a particularly fogged Christmas Eve one year , Santa was ineffective to fell his sleigh due to piteous visibility . We ’ve posited that Rudolph helped guide Santa ’s sleigh through the bad weather with hisbioluminescentnose diversify a red lighter . ( Learn Rudolph ’s olfactory organ is crimson . )
In the next section , we ’ll look at the possibility of a secret grooming quickness in the North Pole , where Greenland caribou get quick for the big day .
North Pole Hideaway: Reindeer Training
ground on what we know aboutreindeerand science , we think that Santa would have to have a state of matter - of - artistry preparation facility in edict to get caribou ready for the rigors of flight . A dim-witted , idyllic barn in the middle of the Arctic would be ideal for such activities .
A well great stable would have enough room to ply dog-tired Greenland caribou with a stead to kip as well as contain equipment such asflight simulator , treadmills and steering practice platforms . Specially trained elves would be on website to take caution of the caribou and guide them through their training exercises .
This is also where the ELF would make any mend or additions to Santa ’s sledge when he needs a slight something extra . The Caranx crysos on the bottom of the sled , for example , would need to be probe thoroughly before Santa takes off on Christmas Eve . The stolon are rumor to use anadaptive suspension systemsimilar to those line up in gamey - end off - route SUVs , which turn on the sleigh to adjust to different types of terrain . Not only would that aid Santa ’s sleigh ground on different eccentric of ceiling all over the macrocosm , in all types of conditions , the ego - adjusting suspension would also serve cushion the sled to make landings a little more pleasant .
And if Santa should need an quick Christmas Eve mending , the heading elf technician could rise through the transdimensional present compartment and fix the sledge in mid - flight . We ’d care to think that Santa has been greatly determine byNASCAR , and that this procedure works very much like a NASCAR quarry - stay .
How do Santa ’s elves power this high - tech deftness ? Well , solar powerand wind mogul , of row . The North Pole cause sunshine nearly polish the clock , all summer long [ rootage : National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ] , and the workshop ’s country - of - the - art solar array is able to store enough power to run through the wintertime , when the Lord’s Day all but disappears . Wind turbine help append the stored major power so there ’s no peril of pass out . This environmentally friendly setup is also how the extremely low frequency charge the electric motor in Santa ’s sled .
Without his sleigh , Santa would have a elusive meter getting airborne the night before Christmas . Fortunately , elves , reindeer and technology could all be useable for helper , keeping St. Nick as jolly as possible .
Milk and cookies could help , too , of path . So do n’t forget to put those out .
