Another invention of the month: The Airplane

Airplane

Man’s dream of flight is prehistoric as embodied oral legends such as the Greek Icarus and the ancient Indian epic of Vimana. In the 15th century, Leonardo da Vinci drew aircrafts. It is conventionally acknowledged that it was the Wright Brothers who invented the first powered and controllable aircraft in the English speaking world. Their successful test flight on December 17, 1903, in fact, did not use wings that were completely fixed as they depended for stability on wing warping; a flexing mechanism.

With the advent of World War I, airplanes succeeded in proving their power to inflict significant harm on the enemy. By 1927, as designs improved, the first solo transatlantic flight was completed by Charles Lindbergh. During World War II, airplanes were in evidence in almost every battle on both the European and Pacific fronts. In October 1947, Chuck Yeager became the first person to exceed the speed of sound in an airplane. In 1952, the de Havilland Comet became the first commercial jet. Today, some Boeing 707s are still being used after more than 50 years. Until recently, the Boeing 747 was the largest commercial aircraft in the world. In 2005, it was surpassed by the Airbus A380.

Unknown insects found in 110-million-year-old amber in Spain

The remains of several unknown insect species which became extinct long before dinosaurs stopped roaming the earth have been discovered in pieces of 110-million-year-old amber found in Spain, researchers said Thursday.

 

Palaeontologist Enrique Penalver said the amber discovered in the El Soplao cave in the northern province of Cantabria was in “exceptional” condition.

“The conservation is incredible. You can study the details,” he told a news conference in Santander according to the Europea Press agency.

Several types of arachnids, as well spider webs and plant remains, were found fossilised in the amber discovered at the site, added Penalver, a researcher with the science ministry’s Geology and Mine Institute.

It is the most important amber find to date in Spain and possibly in all of Europe, he added. There are few other amber finds from that era in the world, he said.