All Episodes

May 29, 2015 1 min

Aircraft carriers contain some of the most advanced technology in the world. Learn more about aircraft and aircraft carriers in this podcast.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to brain Stuff from house stuffworks dot com where
smart happens him Marshall Brain. Every time there's a military
crisis overseas, we hear about nuclear powered aircraft carriers heading

(00:21):
over to investigate what does the nuclear powered part mean.
Let's say that you were to power an aircraft carrier
with gasoline. An aircraft carrier weighs about a hund thousand
tons and has engines that can generate two hundred and
eighty thousand horsepower. The ship would have to carry millions
of gallons of gas to stay at sea for any

(00:41):
length of time. Instead, the ship has a small nuclear
reactor on board. The reactor is like the reactor at
a nuclear power plant, but it's extremely compact. The heat
from the nuclear fuel generates steam, and the steam powers
the turbines that turn the propellers. The fuel for the
reactor is highly enriched urine um. A pound of this

(01:01):
material is about the size of a baseball, but it
contains the energy equivalent of about a million gallons of gas.
For more on this and thousands of other topics, does
that how stuff works dot Com, And don't forget to
check out the brain stuff blog on the how Stuff
Works dot com home page. You can also follow brain
Stuff on Facebook or Twitter at brain stuff hs W.

(01:24):
The How Stuff Works iphe app has arrived. Download it
today on iTunes.

BrainStuff News

Advertise With Us

Follow Us On

Hosts And Creators

Josh Clark

Josh Clark

Jonathan Strickland

Jonathan Strickland

Ben Bowlin

Ben Bowlin

Lauren Vogelbaum

Lauren Vogelbaum

Cristen Conger

Cristen Conger

Christian Sager

Christian Sager

Show Links

AboutStore

Popular Podcasts

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!

Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.

Crime Junkie

Crime Junkie

Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.