Airplane Contrails Will Do Triple the Damage They Do Today By 2050, Study Finds

An anonymous reader quotes a report from New Scientist: The contrails left by airplanes last only hours. But they are now so widespread that their warming effect is greater than that of all the carbon dioxide emitted by airplanes that has accumulated in the atmosphere since the first flight of the Wright brothers. Worse still, this non-CO2 warming effect is set…

The Flying Saddle: Would You Give It a Try?

schwit1 quotes SFGate: Airlines are squeezing as many passengers as they can onto their jets, but one seat manufacturer believes its product can help carriers push capacity to the absolute limit. And it may help push down fares. Say goodbye to whatever personal space you had left. At this week’s Paris Air Show, lots of curious convention-goers eagerly wanted to try…

KLM Airlines To Fund Development of Fuel-Efficient Flying-V Plane

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines announced that it will help fund the development of a V-shaped, fuel-efficient airplane design known as the Flying-V. CNN reports: Intended to improve the sustainability of air travel, the Flying-V was conceived by Justus Benad, then a student at the Technical University of Berlin, and developed by researchers at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, also…

Space Firm Founded By Paul Allen Closing Operations, Report Says

Stratolaunch Systems Corporation, the space company founded by late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, is closing operations, cutting short ambitious plans to challenge traditional aerospace companies in a new “space race,” Reuters reported Friday, citing four people familiar with the matter. From the report: The company, a unit of Allen’s privately held investment vehicle Vulcan, had been developing a portfolio of launch…

Remembering Radio Shack’s 1983 Training Film For the TRS-80 Model 100

Fast Company’s technology editor Harry McCracken is also Slashdot reader #1,641,347. He contacted us Thursday with a story about Radio Shack’s Model 100 — and a rare training film from 36 years ago: Radio Shack’s Model 100 wasn’t the first laptop — but it was the first popular one, and an innovative machine on multiple fronts. It was also the last…

Scientists explain mysterious, celestial STEVE

STEVE is a majestic sky phenomenon, similar to well-known auroras, but not as well understood. Now, a new study provides an explanation. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/new-study-explains-steve-picket-fence-auroras…

Preparing for asteroid Apophis

Astronomers are meeting today at the Planetary Defense Conference to discuss plans to observe asteroid 99942 Apophis, a relatively large asteroid that’ll sweep past Earth safely – but rather closely – in 2029. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/preparing-asteroid-apophis-april-13-2029-passage…