Hindenburg mystery solved after 76 years

Hindenburg mystery solved after 76 years 

Last week various news wires were abuzz with the findings of a group of aeronautical scientists who, after a series of painstaking experiments and recreations, claim to have finally laid to rest any question of what exactly caused the airship Hindenburg to explode over Lakehurst, NJ, in May 1937.

I'd intended to post this link - probably the best of the bunch - at the time the story first broke, so as to tie in with the TV documentary that aired recently on Channel 4 (and previously on the Discovery Channel) explaining fully how the discovery was made and which precipitated the news.  My cold(s) put paid to that idea, though, so here I am a couple of weeks later hopefully still in time to spread the fascinating discovery further.

Thanks to the efforts of British scientist Jem Stansfield and his team of engineers one theory above all others has been shown to be the most likely - and it appears to have been accepted by most historians (and the wider world).  After nearly 80 years of theories and conspiracies and with that iconic image of the Hindenburg burning above its mooring mast never having gone away, one of aviation's enduring mysteries looks like having been put to bed.  One wonders what other historical events and unknowns are just waiting to be resolved with the aid of modern science.

The airship industry has taken as long to recover from the Hindenburg disaster but, as other articles about modern airships featured on this blog have shown, they certainly still have a future and the final solving of the 1937 riddle may go some way to cementing it.

How Victorian engineers almost built an underwater tunnel between Scotland and Ireland

How Victorian engineers almost built an underwater tunnel between Scotland and Ireland

This story has been reported by various news sites, including the B.B.C., but by far the best and most comprehensive description is from science [fiction] blog io9.

As anyone who has crossed the Irish Sea will tell you, a train journey (or, these days, an aeroplane flight) is infinitely more preferable to a ferry crossing and this was obviously very much the case even a hundred years ago.  It should come as no surprise therefore that the industrially-minded Victorians seriously considered a series of railway tunnels beneath the Irish Sea; the idea of a Channel Tunnel had been mooted almost a century earlier so the intent was clearly there.  Regrettably in both cases the huge engineering challenge would prove too great for Victorian science to overcome.  Nevertheless that such a plan was drawn up is a remarkable testament to the technological ambition and farsightedness of 19th Century engineers.

The suggestion of tunnels between mainland Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man still occasionally appears even today.  But it was the Victorians who first thought of the idea even though they, and subsequent supporters of the scheme, were always stymied by the matter of cost, politics and now a difference in the railway gauge.  It's not to say that the project is unfeasible, however, and I'm sure the vision will still be revisited in the future and - who knows? - maybe even undertaken.

Babbage Analytical Engine designs to be digitised

Babbage Analytical Engine designs to be digitised

The creation of a full-size replica of noted Victorian engineer Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine, as reported in these pages previously, is one step closer to becoming reality now thanks to this latest piece of news.

It may still be early days, and a target date of 2021 seems a long way off, but the London Science Museum is to be commended for agreeing to convert Babbage's handwritten sketches and plans into an easy-to-access digital format.  This will surely be of great use to the team behind the campaign, making their job that little bit easier and ensuring that the project stays alive.

When completed the Analytical Engine will be an enormous machine (we're talking double-decker bus scale here) so it's just as well that Babbage's notes, while not complete, can be easily accessed and analysed before being applied to a computer model and then, finally, a complete and accurate facsimile.

Ten years will be a long time to wait but I'm sure that it will be well worth it, and this blog will continue to report on the progress of this remarkable undertaking.  Carry on, you fellows!

Steampunk chip takes the heat

Steampunk chip takes the heat

From the New Scientist magazine comes news which proves that the old ways are sometimes still the best. Who would have thought that 150-year-old technology, which has formed the basis for a whole modern (albeit now mainly aesthetic) movement, should end up having a practical use in something as high-end as US Defence projects?

It just goes to show that sometimes modern electronics have their limits and it falls to good old-fashioned mechanical constructions to take the strains which leave more highly-advanced but often fragile devices broken and burnt out. So to sum up: modern technology (above) = rubbish; Victorian technology (below) = the future! Huzzah!

Seriously though, it's heartening to see today's scientists still looking to the technologies of the past and adapting them for use in the present, rather than simply disregarding them. Progress is sometimes not just about inventing the next new thing but also looking to previous designs and breakthroughs to see if they can be adapted or reused to help further existing advancements. The use of such tried and tested designs in these new developments also allows us to follow a timeline of modern technology, from Charles Babbage's original Difference Engine to today's computer chips, and so appreciate the progress that has been made over the last century-and-a-half while still noting the inherent basic similarities between these old and new mechanisms.

Britain can become a world leader in technology, but it will need a cultural change

Britain can become a world leader in technology, but it will need a cultural change

It's not very often I link to an opinion piece but something about this guest column by renowned inventor and industrialist James Dyson (he of vacuum cleaner fame) struck a chord and so I thought I would share it.

There are many out there who are somewhat dismissive of Dyson, not least because of his company having outsourced manufacturing to the Far East at the expense of the British factory, but whatever you may think about Dyson's business practices there is much truth in what he says here. I too have often looked back at the likes of Whittle, Cockerell and Gresley amongst others and marvelled at their various ideas and inventions and then wondered why such innovation is not more actively encouraged today. Certainly we have many great engineers and inventors out there such as Dyson himself, Trevor Bayliss and Richard Noble, but is enough being done to make the country aware of their contribution, to celebrate their achivements and hopefully to inspire the next generation? Mr Dyson makes an interesting point.