Jordan Taylor (@Jordan_W

Jordan Taylor

15.6K posts

Jordan Taylor

@Jordan_W_Taylor

Weekly technical threads, no fuss. Check the Highlights tab for the biggest threads, or subscribe for a growing library of articles!

jordanwtaylor2.substack.com

Joined February 2022

Pinned
Jordan Taylor
@Jordan_W_Taylor
Dec 23, 2022
There's a lot of thread content on this page, so this is a pinned index of engineering threads for easy navigation. Some mine, some not. 1) The HP turbine blade, single crystal casting and "metallurgy's secret cheat code":
Jordan Taylor
@Jordan_W_Taylor
Dec 13, 2022
1/This is a thread about metallurgy's secret cheat code, and how it's used by the aerospace industry to accomplish things that no material should. In particular, how that cheat code is enabled on the humble, but amazing, jet engine turbine blade.
609K
Jordan Taylor
@Jordan_W_Taylor
Dec 6, 2024
Replying to @Devon_Eriksen_
"Could you repeat yourself? I couldn't hear you over Hans Zimmer over there."
228K
Jordan Taylor
@Jordan_W_Taylor
Jul 27, 2024
Aircraft are thirsty and burn lots of fuel, right? Wrong. The average fuel efficiency of air travel today is about 67 mpg per passenger. That makes it more fuel efficient than your drive to work. The best hit 100mpg/passenger. How did aviation manage it? A thread.
3M
Jordan Taylor
@Jordan_W_Taylor
Jul 19, 2024
Is Europe even relevant anymore? -Or is it only good for Harry Potter, the Louvre and fancy cheese? Let's take a whimsical jaunt through things that Europe still does quite well… And where it might stand to improve.
3.6M
Jordan Taylor
@Jordan_W_Taylor
Dec 27, 2024
The death of steel. Big ships are sturdy, but they're not immortal. Over time their maintenance costs soar until, after 30 years or more, they become more valuable as recycled metal and are sold to a scrapyard. What happens next will surprise you…
1.7M
Jordan Taylor
@Jordan_W_Taylor
Oct 4, 2024
In this software-gilded age, let's pay tribute to the sullen monsters that keep the whole show on the road… The beasts of burden that carry our entire industrial civilization… Let's talk Heat Exchangers!
765K
Jordan Taylor
@Jordan_W_Taylor
Jul 13, 2024
You may not realise it, but the next few years are going to be great years for experimental aircraft and aerodynamics innovation. Let's take a look at a few of the highlights you should know about…
1.5M
Jordan Taylor
@Jordan_W_Taylor
May 24, 2024
It's named after titans. It's our favourite space age material, used in rockets, planes & medical implants. It brings us the colour white. It's an absolute devil to make. This thread is the story of Titanium.
1.6M
Jordan Taylor
@Jordan_W_Taylor
Dec 15, 2023
How do you create the sharpest thing in the world? And why would you do it? In this thread we take a voyage into true sharpness...
1.6M
Jordan Taylor
@Jordan_W_Taylor
Oct 5, 2025
The Economist published this article that's contentious but probably right: It argues that laws protecting labour in much of Europe make lay-offs so onerous that high-risk moonshot projects become unviable. Making it easier to fire people could, weirdly, benefit everyone.
2.5M
Jordan Taylor
@Jordan_W_Taylor
May 4, 2024
In 2022, short on electrical grid inertia and long on renewable power, Ireland installed the world's largest flywheel, 130 spinning tons. Why did we do something so preposterous? And are there other, better storage technologies? Let's find out. It's the grid storage thread!
1.8M
Jordan Taylor
@Jordan_W_Taylor
Sep 28, 2024
In this software obsessed age, it's quite humbling to think just how completely dependent industrial civilization is on heat exchangers.
234K
Jordan Taylor
@Jordan_W_Taylor
Mar 29, 2024
When 460 knots just isn't fast enough... We've been cruising the globe at basically the same speed since the 1960s. Faster would be nicer, so what are the challenges facing hypersonic airliners? Read on...
2.4M
Jordan Taylor
@Jordan_W_Taylor
Jan 12, 2024
By the artifice of Man and God is born a furnace that forges the future. This is the big nuclear reactor thread! A beginner's guide to the main reactor types, with lots of diagrams...
1M