WORLD'S FASTEST THINGS - list of the fastest

AS OF JUNE 2012

WORLD'S FASTEST STREET LEGAL CAR ON THE MARKET:

A price tag at US $2.4 million, the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport uses a 8.0 liter W16 engine and can output 1200 HP. The Super Sport's slower sibling, the Veyron Grand Sport, uses the same engine but only has an output of 1001 HP. This is due to four enlarged turbochargers and bigger intercoolers in the Super Sport.

Bugatti Veyron Super Sport at 430 km/h

WORLD'S FASTEST CAR:

The Thrust SSC is a British jet-propelled car developed by Richard Noble, Glynn Bowsher, Ron Ayers, and Jeremy Bliss. Powered by two afterburning Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan engines (also used in the British verson of the F-4 Phantom II fighter), the Thrust is the first car to break the sound barrier. It was piloted by RAF fighter pilot Wing Commander Andy Green in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, USA.

The official record is held by the Thrust SSC at 1227.93 km/h in 1997

WORLD'S FASTEST TENNIS SERVE:

Samuel Groth, an Aussie underdog player ranked 340th in the world set his smash speed record in the 2012 Busan Open Challenger Tennis competition. He was playing against Belarusian Uladzimir Ignatik and lost the match 6-4, 6-3.

Samuel Groth at 263 km/h

WORLD'S FASTEST UNMANNED AIRCRAFT:

Part of NASA's Hyper-X program, the X-43 set its record in a testflight on November 16, 2004. It's top speed was 9.8 times faster than the speed of sound. The X-43 is launched off a B-52 Stratofortress and it is originally boosted by a modified Pegasus rocket before switching to its scram jet engine.  The X-43 is designed to be fully-controllable in high speed flight. It was not, however, designed to land and all test vehicles crashlanded in the Pacific Ocean.

NASA X-43 at 12144 km/h

WORLD'S FASTEST MANNED AIRCRAFT:


The X-15 is a rocket-powered aircraft part of NASA's X-plane series of experimental aircraft. During the X-15 program, 13 different flights by eight pilots met the USAF spaceflight criterion of exceeding altitude of 80 km, thus qualifying the pilots for astronaut status. The record setting flight, flight 188 happened on 3 October, 1967 piloted by William "Pete" Knight. The X-15, like the X-43, is launched by a B-52.

NASA X-15 at 7273 km/h

WORLD'S FASTEST BADMINTON SMASH:


China's badminton doubles player, Fu HaiFeng, achieved this world record speed at the Sudirman Cup in 2005. He and his partner Cai Yun, won the men's doubles in the tournament. 

Fu HaiFeng at 331.52 km/h

WORLD'S FASTEST BOAT:

Powered by a Westinghouse J34 jet engine, the Spirit of Australia driven by Ken Warby on the River Tumut near the Blowering Dam in Australia reached the record on 8 October 1978. The Spirit is now permanently on display at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour, Sydney. The setting of water speed records is one of the sporting world's most hazardous competitions with an approximate fatality rate of 85% since 1940.

Spirit of Australia at 511.11 km/h

WORLD'S FASTEST WATERSLIDE:

Located in Fortalez, Brazil, the Insano is the tallest water slide in the world at 41 meters high. This is as tall as a 14-storey building. The whole descent takes just 4 to 5 seconds and during that time it is possible to reach speeds of up to 105 km/h.

The Insano at 105 km/h

WORLD'S FASTEST TRAIN:

The MLX01 is an experimental maglev train developed by the Central Japan Railway Company and the Railway Technical Research Institute. It reached its record on 2 December 2003 on the Yamanashi Maglev testline. It had 3 cars. Maglev trains use magnets to levitate on the track, thus experiencing minimal friction.

JR-Maglev MLX01 at 581 km/h with three cars