The 10 Speediest Things in the Universe

Just like Tom Cruise or that other character from 'Top Gun,' we all have those moments when we crave speed. For some, it's about flying an F-14A Tomcat with full throttle in the sky, and for others, it might be racing through a video game as fast as possible. Whatever gets your adrenaline going.

We all know light is the fastest, but let's dive into other super-speedy things in our universe – and maybe a few from fictional realms. From animals to superheroes, planets to even toilets, we'll explore them all. After all, if toilets can move, there must be one that outpaces the rest. And don't pretend you're not curious to find out which one holds the speed title.

Hold onto your cheetah, tell Usain Bolt to take a break, and fasten your seatbelt as we race through our list of the speediest things.

10: Hit the Ground (or Water or Air) Running

No need to keep you guessing. Every speed list begins with the cheetah. These creatures can accelerate to an astonishing 59 mph (95 kph) in mere seconds [source: Yong]. A surprising runner-up for the fastest? The pronghorn antelope, which can clock in at 53 mph (85 kph), rivaling the cheetah [source: National Geographic]. There you have it: the speediest animals on Earth.

Hold on a second.

If we’re talking about creatures of the sea, the sailfish takes the crown, reaching speeds of 68 mph (110 kph) — and that's just what they've been clocked at when leaping out of the water [sources: National Geographic, Sagong et al.].

Now, take a glance upwards. The peregrine falcon laughs at both the cheetah and sailfish, leaving them in the dust. When hunting smaller birds, the falcon can dive — reaching a mind-blowing 199 mph (320 kph) — to capture its prey [sources: National Geographic, Ponitz et al.]. The peregrine firmly holds the title of fastest animal.

9: It's Usain to Run That Fast

It’s impossible to create a list of the fastest things without mentioning Usain Bolt, the current record-holder for human speed. His remarkable feat? A 9.58-second 100-meter dash at the 2009 World Track Championships. That translates to a peak speed of 27.4 mph (44 kph) and an average speed of 23.4 mph (37.7 kph). To put that into perspective: if Bolt and I were racing, by the time you finish reading this sentence, he'd already be doing a victory lap while I’d still be trying to get through the candy bar I’m likely eating.

Scientists have found that Usain Bolt is not exactly the pinnacle of aerodynamic perfection. In fact, less than 8 percent of the energy generated by his muscles goes toward motion; the rest is lost to drag. Considering the weather and altitude during his record-breaking run, they concluded that Bolt's aerodynamics are actually worse than the average person’s [source: Gorski].

This, as the researchers emphasize, makes his accomplishments even more extraordinary. Despite battling worse-than-average drag, his body generates enough power to become the fastest person on Earth. Bolt also holds the 200-meter record with a time of 19.19 seconds. Although he has retired, his world records remain unbeaten as of 2022.

8: Spin Me Right Round

OK, we’ve covered the fastest animal and the fastest person on Earth — but this Earth-centric focus might be a bit limiting. After all, there are numerous things in our universe that make Earth look like a sluggish planet. For instance, a single year on Earth lasts 365 endless days, yet on Mercury, it only takes 88 days. Imagine how nice it would be to enjoy a quick 88-day year while waiting for summer vacation. On the other hand, our friends on Neptune have to wait over 60,000 days (or 165 Earth years) between birthdays [source: Russell].

Now, imagine a year that happens every 8.5 hours! Astronomers have discovered what they believe to be the shortest orbital period (or year) on Kepler-78b, a small Earth-like planet so close to its star that scientists dub it a 'lava planet' [source: Howell]. However, Kepler-78b might face competition from KOI-1843.03 — a planet candidate — which has an unconfirmed orbit of 4.25 hours, potentially making it the fastest orbiting planet in the universe, if Kepler's laws of planetary motion hold true [source: Price and Rogers].

7: Toilet Time

Let’s get this cleared up: We’re not talking about the fastest flush, cleaning time, or any other function at the toilet. While we would happily tip our hats to the record-holders in those categories, there doesn’t seem to be much competition to warrant any fast-paced, timed contests.

However, when it comes to the competition for the fastest toilet-turned-motorized vehicle, the rivalry is unexpectedly intense.

The 'Bog Standard' won the 2011 Guinness World Record for the Fastest Toilet. It wasn’t a traditional toilet, but a motorcycle rigged with a sidecar tub, sink, and laundry bin. (No actual toilet, which sparks the imagination about how far one can stretch the limits of Guinness titles.) Nevertheless, the toilet 'set' reached speeds of 42 mph (68 kph) [source: Brady].

But one plumber from Lincolnshire, Great Britain wasn’t content with a mere 42 mph motorcycle without a toilet taking the crown. By mounting a fully functional toilet (flush included) on a motorized bike, Colin Furze pushed his loo to a speed of 55 mph (89 kph) in 2013 [source: Brady]. Then, a group of kids stepped up to the challenge — and triumphed — with their HAWC, or Highly Advanced Water Closet.

In 2018, four 18-year-olds from Rutland, U.K., placed a toilet and cistern on a go-kart frame, creatively using a toilet brush as the gear stick. With a 250-cc Yamaha engine driving the setup, their creation reached an impressive 71 mph (114 kph). When the driver was done, he flushed the toilet [source: Guinness World Records].

6: A Speeding Bullet? Please

For most of our fastest contenders, we can rely on official times, broken records, or even well-reasoned estimations. However, when it comes to determining the speediest superhero, we are left with a debate fueled by passionate opinions. And the answer is far from simple.

If you’re like me — not exactly a comic book aficionado but familiar with the basics of Marvel versus DC — you might think that The Flash is the obvious pick. He can run nearly at the speed of light, with some versions stating he can break the light-speed barrier. In addition to running, he’s capable of performing everything else at hyperspeed as well [source: DC Comics]. He’s dubbed the fastest man alive, which makes him the clear winner, right?

But we can’t forget about Silver Surfer, a character who travels through hyperspace and surpasses light speed, zooming 500,000 light years per second [source: Austin]. There's also Quicksilver, and even classic Superman, who’s said to be able to fly at speeds beyond measure. Ultimately, the answer depends on which hero you prefer [sources: Grimaldi, Ukil].

5: Everyone Knows It's Windy

For many years, a relatively modest mountain in New Hampshire (standing at about 6,288 feet or 1,917 meters) held the record for the highest recorded wind speed on Earth. This wind, clocked at 231 mph (372 kph) in 1934 atop Mount Washington, earned the peak the boastful title of "Home of the World's Worst Weather" for decades [source: Mount Washington Observatory].

In 1996, Australia's Barrow Island took the crown for wind speed during tropical cyclone Olivia, with winds reaching 253 mph (407 kph) [source: Mount Washington Observatory]. But Mount Washington shouldn’t feel overshadowed: The peak still might hold the title for World's Worst Weather, as Barrow Island’s subtropical climate likely softens the blow of its extreme winds.

But these records only tell the tale of our little planet. Out in the cosmos, real feats of wind speed are being achieved near a black hole, where ultraviolet winds blast through space at mind-boggling speeds of 125 million mph (200 million kph). That’s roughly 20 percent of the speed of light. And scientists believe there are even faster winds around quasars yet to be discovered [source: Crew].

4: Don't Throw Out the Baby With the Amniotic Fluid

It's hard to say what the fastest birth is, as humans haven’t been documenting these occurrences since the dawn of time. However, there are a few modern examples of exceptionally fast births (though not necessarily easy or painless) that would be tough to surpass.

One such case dates back to 2007, when a woman in Great Britain gave birth less than two minutes after her water broke [source: Daily Mail]. While that family sought Guinness World Records recognition, another woman from Great Britain might have outdone her, giving birth in less than 30 seconds.

In 2021, a woman in the U.K. gave birth to a baby girl in a mere 27 seconds! Sophie Bugg, who was 38 weeks pregnant, woke up in the night to use the toilet. "I literally did a push and had the feeling that I should feel between my legs because it didn’t feel like a poo. I put my hand down and I just felt her head!" Bugg told the Daily Mail. Both mother and baby are doing well.

An Ottawa mother holds the Guinness World Record for the “shortest interval between the birth of twins – single confinement.” In 2017, Amanda Dorris gave birth to twin girls in a mere 22.976 seconds. At least Dorris was in the hospital when she delivered [source: Laucius].

3: Super Fast

Having the title of the fastest in our universe is impressive, but some people aim for even bigger goals. Why not break records in a different universe? In a place where little Italian men grow through magical mushrooms, battling the evil Bowser, anything is possible.

Let’s give credit to Niftski, who in 2018 managed to complete the entire Super Mario Bros. game in an impressive 4:54:948 [source: Diaz]. This might make those of us who spent an entire summer trying to rescue the princess on our Game Boy feel a bit ashamed.

Niftski belongs to a specialized group of gamers known as speed runners, individuals who play video games with the primary goal of achieving the fastest possible completion time.

2: Faster Than a Speeding Sedan

It’s time to return to reality — the world where even the slowest of us can make up for our sluggish lives with the right machine. While many of us settle for a used, mid-sized sedan, others need something far more powerful when the urge hits to cruise down the highway and let the wind sweep through their hair.

For this discussion, the fastest car must be a production car. According to Guinness World Records, a production car is one that the automaker manufactures at least 30 identical models of (no one-off designs), and it must have many of the same features as your everyday sedan: headlights, emissions certification, blinkers [source: George].

In 2022, the fastest production car is the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport, reaching an astonishing 304.7 mph (490.37 kph), which is nearly half the speed of Mach One [source: Gear Slap]. Priced at $3.8 million, it can hit 200 mph in just 14.8 seconds. "Your life does flash before your eyes the first time you push the Chiron’s accelerator and let the W-16 engine unleash its fury through the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic," Car and Driver reported.

1: A Nova Approach

One of the most recent fastest phenomena in the universe was an accidental discovery in 2014 when astronomers were examining the M87 galaxy within the Virgo Cluster, located about 54 million light-years away from our Milky Way.

For some context: As you may recall from Edwin Hubble, light from distant objects receding from our galaxy appears red to us. This is due to the universe's expansion, which stretches the wavelengths towards the red end of the spectrum, known as a redshift.

However, when an object moves towards us, it creates a blueshift. Now, to the exciting part: Astronomers detected a significant blueshift coming from M87, with the object approaching us at a speed of 638 miles (1,026 kilometers) per second. This makes it the fastest-moving object toward Earth. It’s thought that a giant black hole may have launched a star cluster toward us at this incredible speed [source: Crosswell].

Scientists believe the object is a star cluster ejected from M87's massive black hole, which is 1,000 times more massive than our Milky Way. But don’t be alarmed: its current path is unlikely to bring it near us, and it will probably just join a group of galaxies beyond the Virgo Cluster.