On May 2, 1952, the jet age officially began as De Havilland’s first Comet passenger plane took to the skies. It was the first of its kind, and its popularity skyrocketed due to its comfort and speed; it was quite lofty and cut down the travel time between London and Tokyo from 86 to a measly 36. Despite its popularity, however, the Comet disappeared from the skies. Its popularity plummeted after a series of mid-air accidents revealed its hulls couldn’t withstand the pressure of flying, exploding after too much stress. Read full article here
Science
‘Ghostly’ neutrinos provide new path to study protons
In groundbreaking research, an international collaboration of scientists from the University of Rochester have used a beam of neutrinos to measure the size and shape of the protons that make up the nuclei of atoms. This feat, once thought impossible, provides scientists with a new way of looking at the small components of an atom’s nucleus and opens up a wealth of new information about the structure of an atom’s nucleus and the dynamics of the forces that affect neutrino interactions. The researchers solved the challenge of harnessing neutrinos in large numbers by using a neutrino detector containing a target of both hydrogen and carbon atoms, and over nine years of data collection at Fermilab’s accelerator. Read full article here