Please Just Stop
Sunday
For much of wheeled vehicles’ history, they were stopped by simply stopping whatever was moving them, such as by halting the horse pulling your carriage. However, the 19th century brought greater use of simple mechanical brakes, such as wooden blocks pushed against wheels to slow them, to better control carriages on downhills or keep them stopped when they’re meant to be.
Monday
The adoption of improved brake designs followed the increasing speed and weight of cars and trucks. The disc brakes on cars today which replaced the less effective drum brakes of the pre-WWII era were actually invented in 1898, but made of poor materials and so not largely adopted. Disc brakes are now common on bikes too.
Tuesday
Stopping a vehicle used to be a lot more exercise, when all the power to engage the brakes came from the driver’s leg. Now, modern power brakes cleverly use vacuum pressure to multiply your push on the brake pedal and stop a car with far less work than your granddad had to use.
Wednesday
Airplanes can slow by a few methods. Spoilers are flaps on the wings designed to produce drag, which you may have seen extend upward when an airplane lands. Reverse thrusters do just what you’d expect, slowing the craft by pushing it backward instead of forward. Once landed, disc brakes on the wheels complete the braking triad that stops a plane under normal conditions.
Thursday
Ships usually stop by utilizing the natural resistance of water to slow them steadily, though a powered ship can put the propeller in full reverse to “crash stop.” Anchors are not generally dropped for routine stopping, just stabilizing while the ship is not underway.
Friday
Parachutes help skydivers fall to Earth at safe speeds, but also slow other things. Drag chutes, aka drogue chutes or braking parachutes, have been used to slow and stabilize jets, landing spacecraft, racecars, and other speedy vehicles.
Saturday
Almost all modern cars come with anti-lock brakes. These prevent brakes from locking once engaged, causing the car to skid and/or become unsteerable. These have proven to be a safety success story, with studies indicating anti-lock brakes reduce fatal accidents by 12-22%, depending on the vehicle.