Scientific Santa: How he's able to deliver gifts in record time and other mysteries revealed

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — There is some complicated science behind Santa Claus's yearly trip around the globe, some scientists claim. When broken down, what Santa achieves in one night is both scientifically and numerically impressive.

At an average speed of 3.5 million miles per hour, Santa is able to make 173 million deliveries in 31 hours. He travels 110 million miles, dropping off presents at 1,400 homes a second, according to ChemistryViews.org.

The website said the speed at which Santa delivers presents also requires some advanced technology. They can't be certain, but they suspect Santa and his team of reindeer are equipped with:

• Sleigh made of carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer composite with a superhydrophobic skin to reduce drag
• Sleigh struts and runners made from titanium/vanadium steel alloy
• Diamond sleigh windshield to prevent scratching or shattering from atmospheric dust or particulate matter
• A seat made of a supersaturated sodium acetate solution and a metal disk that creates exothermic crystallization when snapped to stay warm
• Toy sack with 3D printing nanotechnology that uses chimney soot for the material
• Genetically modified flying reindeer with fur made of multi-walled carbon nanotubes that prevent them from overheating.
• Reindeer harnesses that use porous ceramic components to help cool the sleigh

Santa's flying reindeer and the mystery of how they are able to achieve such quick flight are a source of debate in the scientific community. ChemistryViews.org attributes the feat to an astrological event, but astrophysicist Knut Jørgen Røed Ødegaard has a different theory.

"Santa Claus of course uses vacuum energy. The sleigh and reindeer use repulsive energy to compensate for the force of gravity and therefore can fly," he said in a report on the physics of Santa on Phys.org.

Ødegaard said Santa must also use an ion-shield to protect himself and the reindeer from the enormous amount of heat generated from their flight. He also agrees that Santa must have some kind of technology that allows him to create presents on the go. Carrying that many presents would create too much drag, slowing him down.