How do you explain situations where two different...

How do you explain situations where two different, totally detached cultures happen to invent roughly the same thing at approximately the same time?

A brain drain

Simultaneous Homo Sapiens Technological Progression

Synchronicity, or the tutelary spirits that guide human evolution have releasing the secret simultaneously to make sure it gets done.

Those cultures weren't detached. They were both actively spying on each other as much as possible.

Give some examples

>MiG-25/31 is the same thing as a F-15C
"no"

The MiG-25 was developed as a fast interceptor to counter the B-58 Hustler and the canceled XB-70 Valkyrie bomber. It's designed to go fast in a straight line (but neither it or the -31 was ever able to catch a SR-71) and intercept supersonic bombers. However the US abandoned development into the XB-70 program due to advances in ICBM and SAM technology only a couple years after the Soviets unveiled the MiG-25.

Western analysts incorrectly interpreted it to actually be a air dominance fighter due to inaccurate intelligence and false claims that modified MiG-25 prototypes being used to set world records were the same as production aircraft, which resulted in the F-15 being created to counter this supposed super-fighter the Russians had, with a "not a pound for air to ground" philosophy that was eventually borne out by it's combat record of no losses vs 100+ kills and several kills vs MiG-25s. (The only time a F-15 has ever been shot down by another aircraft was when a JSDAF pilot was accidentally shot down by his wingman.)

It wasn't until late 1976, just a few months after the F-15 entered service, that a Russian pilot defected to Japan and we discovered the MiG-25 is actually built out of pig iron, the air frame gets irreparably bent if the pilot tries basic combat maneuvers, and has engines that are about as reliable as the ones in the Me 262.

Picture related, a XB-70 after a speed test, it was found that uneven layering of the paint, as a result of touching the airplane up for photo ops, would cause heat buildup to burn away the paint in the touched up sections.

The laws of physics are the same here as they are in China. It is only a matter of time before people discover the same things and sometimes by coincidence they do it at around the same time.

Also consider that if someone discovered it first and it rapidly spread around the world, the scientist on the other side of the world will move onto something else. The only time something is discovered independently by 2 people in the modern world is when it is discovered at around the same time.

For example someone discovers a new chemical and everyone hears about it. Then a photographer in Japan and a photographer in Poland start experimenting with it. It might take only months for them to make the next step, then a few more months to patent it.

Convergent evolution is a thing. The laws of physics are the same everywhere, and there's only so many solutions to a problem. Usually the solutions that are converged upon are the easiest with the given technology, so it's not really all that surprising.

When it comes to aircraft, convergent evolution happens not only because there's only so many optimal configurations with the given technology, but because aircraft do not exist in a vaccuum and happen to be some of the most high-profile technology a nation can posess.

Only good answer itt, the rest is bullshit

The F-15 and the Mig-25 were very different planes even if from a top down view they look a bit alike. The Rockwell B-1 Lancer and the Tupolev Tu-160 would be a better match to compare, but would not work for you question. because the Tu-160 was helped along by spying on the B-1 project.

>because the Tu-160 was helped along by spying on the B-1 project.
You got any real source for that? Because they were developed to entirely different requirements.

Maybe he's thinking of the Concorde and the Tu-144?

On a slightly related note, I once read that the Russians originally began development on the airplane that eventually became the F-22 way back in the 1980s and that Boris Yeltsin sold the project to the Americans in the 1990s but I can't find anything on this on the internet anymore.

Anyone heard of this before?

Lockheed purchased something from Yakovlev which may have made its way into the F-35. The specifics of the deal are not known, but it is generally speculated that it had something to do with the software control laws governing STOVL hovering.

>It wasn't until late 1976, just a few months after the F-15 entered service, that a Russian pilot defected to Japan and we discovered the MiG-25 is actually built out of pig iron, the air frame gets irreparably bent if the pilot tries basic combat maneuvers, and has engines that are about as reliable as the ones in the Me 262.

[citation needed]

Realistically that's the only thing it really could have been. The F-35 had no common parts and an entirely different lift system, so any technical details for the Yak-141 would have been useless.

However, they were both similar enough in layout that Yakovlev's work on control laws would have been helpful for Lockheed.

Obviously he's exxagerating, but the general idea - that the MiG-25 was far from what analysts originally though it was - is true.

The MiG-25 used a lot of steel in its design and wasn't stressed for a lot of the more taxing maneuvers that generally occur in air combat. Plus, its engines had fairly short service lives (not uncommon for Soviet engines) and could be pushed to the point where they would destroy themselves.

I would venture to guess its because humans are human no matter where they live on earth, and thus are within both a similar timescale and a similar inclination to invent things "along the lines" of what our brains have developed to configure for the purposes of bettering our "HUMAN" condition...

so for example if it is "human" to depend necessarily on something like agriculture, then naturally the "problem solving" attributes of the brain will be set on developing technology to make this process more efficient

so right off the bat we have the same brains, are operating in the same universe, and for the most part have the same aims. technology and ideas exist to serve those aims, therfore when inventions coincide it is most often in line with a shared attempt at solving shared problems

And when has this happened?

>two completely unrelated cultures that are definitly not spending billions of dollars spying on eachother to get military tech.

Additionally the Yak-141's rotating exhaust assembly was likely inspired by (or likely stolen from) plans for the Convair Model 200 fighter, which was intended to be a F-16 style light fighter for the Navy and used the three-part rotating nozzle for a proposed VTOL version. So if anything the technology went one direction, then came back again when Yakolev needed money in the 90s and Lockheed wanted to look at their test data.

(The idea at the time was that the Navy would build "sea control shops" which were basically ski-deck light carriers with accommodations for 3-6 fighters and 6-8 anti-submarine helicopters)

>sea control ships

Damn I'm tired.

Interestingly in the background for this concept art is (IIRC) a Canadair VTOL cargo aircraft proposal.

I recommend the book "mig pilot" by john barron

What happened to Google Image Search, why has it become so useless?

Out of context, there is a most optimal solution to certain problem.
in context

looks like a twin-prop XC-142

I've noticed this too. All it does now is tell you (a best guess of) what's in the picture, as if im fucking blind.

>industrial espionage

Tineye and Yandex can work well in some cases, not as good as the old Google though. New Google needs the exact picture to find anything.

That's just a name for it. Not a description of how it happened.