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Today, 23 November 2009

Yesterday, 22 November 2009

› SACP attacks Malema

› Meteor 'flash' in Gauteng

› Malema attack 'racist'

› Govt settles with Pikoli

› Will cops play brokers?

The fastest ever roller coaster - which reaches 172 km/h in 1.8 seconds - has opened at a theme park near Tokyo, Japan, launching itself into the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest circuit roller coaster in the world.

The record was set at the Fujikyu Highland Park in Fujiyosida, when a trial run of the "Dodonpa" roller coaster, as it is known, reached a top speed of 172 km/h around the 1.6 km track. This beat the previous speed record for a roller coaster, which was 148 km/h set by the "Steel Dragon" coaster, also of Japan.

Despite a ride time of only about a minute, the Dodonpa is anything but boring. Set against the backdrop of Mount Fuji in the background, the monster coaster reaches a height of 52 metres (170 feet) at its peak, with a 90-degree angle on the upslope and a virtually vertical descent on the other side.

The secret to the incredible acceleration of the Dodonpa is a high-speed air pressure system which launches the ride

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to maximum speed in less than two seconds. It creates maximum positive G's of 4.3, and doesn't invert at any point of the ride, following a basically circular shape over its full length.

The ride opens to the public later this week, and it will be many rides later that the construction cost of some R300-million is finally met.

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