"Ray" wrote in message
...
Looks like airplane treadmill problem, regularly a spark for flame wars on
R.A.P., has made it into the mainstream.

http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/

Let the arguing begin!

- Ray

You're standing on the conveyor wearing a pair of roller skates. The rope
you are holding
is attached to the rear bumper of a truck. The truck is on the ground and
begins to move
away from you. As you begin to move forward the conveyor begins to turn
backwards
to match the wheel's speed. (Here's another point... as long as the wheels
are rolling and
not sliding the conveyor is "matching the wheel's speed". Just depends on
the observer's
reference frame whether the conveyor is moving or even needs to move to meet
the
conditions of the problem.) Eventually the truck will pull you off the end
of the conveyor.
Just substitute a propeller coupled to the atmosphere for the truck's wheels
coupled
to the ground. The conveyor is irrelevant.