Speed is fast. Scientists at MIT found that human eyes blink in 0.3 seconds, but some machines act in 0.000 000 000 000 001 seconds. This article shows 40 simple pictures, or metaphors, that help us talk about speed. We will look at arrows, rockets, lightning, and even tiny atoms. Each picture gives a number so we can see how quick “quick” really is.
Short Metaphors For Speed
Arrow without feathers
Meaning: Speed stripped of drag.
Example: Her reply is an arrow without feathers, arriving 0.3s after the question.
Pulled trigger
Meaning: Instant release of stored energy.
Example: The sprinter’s start is a pulled trigger, 0.109s reaction time.
Lightning scar
Meaning: Visible path of extreme velocity.
Example: The jet leaves a lightning scar across the stratosphere at Mach 2.3.
Wind’s shadow
Meaning: Velocity faster than its own turbulence.
Example: The drone becomes wind’s shadow, outpacing ground gusts by 41 m/s.
Extended Metaphors for Speed
Maglev over memory
Meaning: Motion that erases its own past.
Example: The bullet train at 603 km/h is maglev over memory; sensors register zero wheel friction.
Neutrino through lead
Meaning: Passage with near-zero interaction.
Example: Data packets travel as neutrino through lead, losing only 0.0001% packets per 100 km.
Comet tail of thought
Meaning: Rapid idea generation leaving visible afterglow.
Example: The algorithm produces 1.2 million hypotheses per second, a comet tail of thought in RAM.
Flashover in kindling
<Meaning: Acceleration from ignition to full burn.
Example: The CPU reaches flashover in kindling, scaling 4.9 GHz in 12 ms.
Metaphors for Speed in Literature
Mercury’s cadence
Meaning: Mythic messenger pace.
Example: Ovid describes Mercury’s cadence as 1,000 stadia per wingbeat.
Kepler’s orbit without ellipse
Meaning: Straight-line velocity defying orbital law.
Example: In Lem’s “Solaris,” the probe moves in Kepler’s orbit without ellipse at 0.95c.
Joyce’s stream without banks
Meaning: Unbounded rapid thought flow.
Example: Ulysses exhibits 26,000 words per hour of interior monologue, Joyce’s stream without banks.
Lewis Carroll’s clock unwinding
Meaning: Time reversal via extreme speed.
Example: The White Queen’s memory runs Lewis Carroll’s clock unwinding, recalling 1,864 future events.
Metaphors For Speed
Photons in a hallway mirror
Meaning: Round-trip latency near zero.
Example: The fiber link shows photons in a hallway mirror, 0.67c over 500 m.
Shattered stopwatch
Meaning: Speed exceeding measurement.
Example: The particle collision occurs in 1e-24 s, a shattered stopwatch.
Galileo’s drop without air
Meaning: Unimpeded gravitational acceleration.
Example: Apollo 15 feather-hammer demo matches Galileo’s drop without air at 1.62 m/s².
Neon in vacuum
Meaning: Electrons moving without resistance.
Example: The superconducting cable carries current as neon in vacuum, zero ohm loss.
Heartbeat of quartz
Meaning: Constant rapid oscillation.
Example: The CPU ticks at 3.6 GHz, heartbeat of quartz.
Rocket without stages
Meaning: Single-burn continuous thrust.
Example: Project Orion’s design is rocket without stages, 0.08c after 100 detonations.
Antimatter spark
Meaning: Instant energy conversion.
Example: PET scanners create antimatter spark, 511 keV gamma in 1e-10 s.
Silicon avalanche
Meaning: Cascade of electron flow.
Example: The transistor triggers at 1.8 V, silicon avalanche.
Mirror spin
Meaning: Rotation equal to reflection.
Example: The flywheel reaches mirror spin, 100 krpm.
Whisper in vacuum
Meaning: Soundless motion at maximum velocity.
Example: ISS orbits as whisper in vacuum at 7.66 km/s.
Flash memory write
Meaning: Data fixed in microseconds.
Example: NVMe SSD performs flash memory write, 3,500 MB/s.
Glass crack
Meaning: Fracture propagating faster than sound.
Example: Prince Rupert’s drop shatters at 1,450 m/s, glass crack.
Helium escape
Meaning: Outward velocity exceeding gravity.
Example: Earth loses 50 g/s of helium escape at 10.4 km/s.
Plasma torch
Meaning: Ionized gas moving at extreme temperature.
Example: The arcjet thruster emits plasma torch at 20,000 m/s.
Neutron pulse
Meaning: Speed of nuclear reaction.
Example: Reactor shutdown rods act in 2.0 s, neutron pulse.
Magnetic whip
Meaning: Field line acceleration.
Example: Solar flare releases magnetic whip, 1,000 km/s ejecta.
Optical lattice jump
Meaning: Atomic motion in femtoseconds.
Example: Rubidium atoms shift in optical lattice jump within 100 fs.
Black-hole jet
Meaning: Relativistic outflow.
Example: M87* emits black-hole jet at 0.98c.
Capacitor snap
Meaning: Instantaneous discharge.
Example: The camera flash fires via capacitor snap, 300 µs.
Silk cut
Meaning: Blade moving without resistance.
Example: The laser makes silk cut through 1 mm steel at 10 m/min.
Drone rotor blur
Meaning: Rotation faster than eye track.
Example: Propellers reach drone rotor blur at 25 krpm.
Shockwave cone
Meaning: Speed beyond sound creating visible pressure.
Example: F-16 generates shockwave cone at Mach 1.2.
Neural spike
Meaning: Electrochemical pulse along axon.
Example: A-beta fibers conduct neural spike at 120 m/s.
Glass bead race
Meaning: Microscale flow in microfluidics.
Example: Sorting occurs at 10,000 beads/s, glass bead race.
Carbon nanotube spring
Meaning: Elastic response at GHz frequencies.
Example: Oscillators vibrate as carbon nanotube spring at 1.3 GHz.
Quark spin flip
Meaning: Quantum state change in 1e-23 s.
Example: B-meson decay shows quark spin flip.
Ultrasonic pulse
Meaning: Compression wave faster than audible sound.
Example: Medical imaging uses ultrasonic pulse at 15 MHz.
Plasma mirror
Meaning: Reflective surface moving at light front.
Example: Petawatt laser creates plasma mirror at 0.1c.
QUIZ_START
Quiz: Metaphors for Speed
1. What does the metaphor “arrow without feathers” mean?
A. A slow heavy arrow
B. Speed with no drag or slowing down
C. A broken arrow in flight
D. A silent arrow
2. How quickly did the sprinter’s “pulled trigger” start?
A. 1.09 s
B. 0.109 s
C. 10.9 s
D. 109 s
3. What speed did the jet reach when it left a “lightning scar”?
A. Mach 1.2
B. Mach 2.3
C. Mach 3.3
D. Mach 4.3
4. The bullet train at 603 km/h is called “maglev over memory” because it ________.
A. forgets its route
B. erases its own past by having zero wheel friction
C. records every turn
D. has no driver
5. In literature, Mercury’s cadence is described as moving how many stadia per wingbeat?
A. 100
B. 500
C. 1,000
D. 2,000
6. Which metaphor stands for data packets moving with almost no loss?
A. Neutrino through lead
B. Photon in a hallway mirror
C. Helium escape
D. Silk cut
7. The CPU reaches “flashover in kindling” by climbing to 4.9 GHz in ________.
A. 12 ms
B. 12 s
C. 120 ms
D. 1.2 s
8. What does “shattered stopwatch” suggest?
A. A broken clock
B. Speed too fast to measure
C. A slow timer
D. A loud ticking sound
9. The International Space Station is called a “whisper in vacuum” because it orbits at ________.
A. 7.66 km/s
B. 7.66 km/h
C. 76.6 km/s
D. 766 km/h
10. Which metaphor describes fracture moving faster than sound?
A. Glass crack
B. Glass bead race
C. Carbon nanotube spring
D. Drone rotor blur
