Whenever a fly alights on an ocean liner of about 35000 tons, the ship tends to sink lower in the water by one tenth of the thickness of an atom (0.1 A) – this can be measured at present by means of an electrostatic capacity meter.\u00a0 If the fly lands on the handrail, say 15 meters (17 yards) from the center line of the ship, the resulting downward deflection of the ship on the same side will be about 20 times greater (unless the vessel is efficiently stabilized).\u00a0 In fact, it is not even necessary for the fly to touch the ship at all.\u00a0\u00a0If it merely hovers just above the deck, the vertical pressure of the airstream generated by its wings will have practically the same effect on the ship.\u00a0 So I ask you could a fly sink a ship?\u00a0 Check out these books at the Engineering Library:\u00a0 ![\"Link\"](\"http:\/\/infohawk.uiowa.edu\/exlibris\/aleph\/u20_1\/alephe\/www_f_eng\/icon\/spacer.gif\")
J.P. Morgan and the Transportation Kings :\u00a0the Titanic and other disasters<\/a>;\u00a0\u00a0American canopy :\u00a0trees, forests, and the making of a nation<\/a>; Handbook of marine craft hydrodynamics and motion control<\/a>; The wave : in pursuit of the rogues, freaks, and giants of the ocean<\/a><\/p>\n