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
Oddities
The Curious Case of the Ancient Brain
In 2008, archaeologists examining the University of York discovered something strange: the decapitated head of an Iron Age man and his very shrivelled but very much intact brain. How a centuries-old brain was preserved is still unknown, but research suggests that it could have been because of brain diseases like dementia. The Yorkshire man’s brain’s proteins were bunched up together, much like how dementia causes brain proteins to bunch up into plaques. This bunching up, or aggregation, could continue even after death, turning regions of the brain into hard masses. Read full article here
Merv
September 30, 2022
