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It Would Take Way More Seagulls To Lift James' Peach

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The children's author, Roald Dahl's most famous stories may strain belief, certainly, though some of us are hoping to find a golden ticket in a bar of chocolate someday. But in his book, "James and the Giant Peach," Dahl came up with a mostly plausible way to move a giant piece of stone fruit: A flock of 501 seagulls. But some physics students from England's Leicester University weren't so sure.

Figuring the potential weight of the peach, which Dahl wrote was about the size of a small house, they multiplied its density by its volume and calculated that you'd need more than 2.4 million seagulls to get that peach into the air.

We're hoping the students next school project figures out the scientific elements of the potion that actually grew that giant peach in the first place.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.