Readers are doubtless aware of the mid-air collision a few days ago between a US Marine Corps F-35B strike aircraft and a KC-130J tanker aircraft during air-to-air refueling. The pilot of the F-35B ejected safely before his aircraft crashed, while the KC-130J’s pilot was able to crash-land in a farm field, saving the lives of all… Continue reading How the heck did he land that plane safely???
Tag: Amazing
Earth in the very dim and distant past
Ian Webster has created a very interesting visualization of how the Earth – the entire planet – looked during various past ages and eras and epochs. One can select an era from a drop-down menu, and see what the globe would have looked like during that time. The continents move, vegetation patterns are shown, and… Continue reading Earth in the very dim and distant past
Someone had WAAAAY too much time on his hands!
I shudder to think how much time, effort, matches and glue went into this. I think, if I’d spent so much time and effort building that, I might have shed a tear or two as I watched my creation destroy itself. Oh, well . . . Peter
“Mining” plants???
I was surprised to learn that some plants absorb so much nickel, it can be “mined” by processing them. The BBC reports: Sixteen years ago, Aiyen Tjoa was exploring a small mining town of Sorowako in the heart of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Sorowako once had been a home to immense diversity of plants,… Continue reading “Mining” plants???
Amazing piloting skills in action
A tip o’ the hat to The Aviationist for bringing us this video of a Croatian Canadair CL-415 “water bomber” tackling a wildfire near Draga, Croatia, last year. Note the astonishingly low altitude as the aircraft flies down the steep slope to drop its water cargo accurately. It can’t be more than ten to twenty… Continue reading Amazing piloting skills in action
OK, this is amazing art!
I came across an article about an amazing “field artwork” by a French street artist who goes by the moniker “braga_last_one”. He has an Instagram account under that name. He started with an old gas tank: And when he’d finished, it looked like this: There are full-size versions of both images in the article, together with… Continue reading OK, this is amazing art!
Steam heating systems to combat a pandemic? I didn’t know that
There’s a fascinating snippet of history in a Bloomberg article about steam radiator heating systems. It turns out that the prodigious output of steam-heated buildings is the direct result of theories of infection control that were enlisted in the battle against the great global pandemic of 1918 and 1919. The Spanish Influenza, which caused just… Continue reading Steam heating systems to combat a pandemic? I didn’t know that
Foxes, pictorial and acquisitorial
Two snippets about foxes caught my eye in recent days. The first was this outstanding photograph of a melanistic red fox, found on Gab. Click the image for a larger view. Isn’t that lovely fur? I wasn’t aware that melanism occurred in foxes, but on investigation, it seems the Arctic silver fox also has a melanistic… Continue reading Foxes, pictorial and acquisitorial
Impressive! A material that can’t be cut
British and German engineers have developed a material that they say is impervious to cutting or drilling. Called Proteus, the revolutionary synthetic material is inspired not by diamonds and sapphires, the toughest natural materials known to man, but by the cellular skin of the grapefruit and the fracture resistant shells of the abalone mollusk. Proteus… Continue reading Impressive! A material that can’t be cut
Flying firefighters operating “danger close” to the ground in Utah
Here’s a video clip of a massive DC-10 Air Tanker firefighting aircraft making a drop in Utah a couple of days ago. Note the lead aircraft, helping the big plane position itself for an accurate drop, then getting out of the way as it comes through. That was a great high-precision drop by the DC-10. If… Continue reading Flying firefighters operating “danger close” to the ground in Utah