AvatarPopular ScienceAvatarAvatar3 days agoBoom Supersonic’s prototype jet sets off on first flightverified_publisherPopular Science - Andrew PaulThe XB-1 finally took to the sky, but don’t expect its supersonic sibling anytime soon. The race to reboot commercial supersonic travel is well underway, and one company just took a major step forward. On Friday, Boom Supersonic announced the successful first flight of its XB-1, a prototype jet …
AvatarPopular ScienceAvatarAvatar6 days agoDrones offer a glimpse inside Fukushima nuclear reactor 13 years after disasterverified_publisherPopular Science - Andrew PaulThe tiny robots could only explore a small portion of No. 1 reactor’s main structural support, showing the cleanup challenges ahead. A team of miniature drones recently entered the radioactive ruins of one of Fukushima’s nuclear reactors in an attempt to help Japanese officials continue planning …
AvatarPopular ScienceAvatarAvatarDish soap, hotel key cards, and confusion: Boeing FAA audit unearths dozens of issuesverified_publisherPopular Science - Mack DeGeurin'This won’t be back to business as usual...' Over the past two months, passengers traveling aboard Boeing aircrafts have endured a sudden, injury-inducing nose-dive, a mid-air wheel detachment, and an emergency door plug horrifyingly blasting open during a flight. Now, new details emerging from a …
AvatarPopular ScienceAvatarAvatar‘Alien’ signal was likely a very big truckverified_publisherPopular Science - Andrew PaulResearchers took a deeper look at seismic data taken during the 2014 fireball landing near Papua New Guinea. There’s no doubt an extremely bright fireball careened through the atmosphere north of Papua New Guinea on January 8, 2014. It’s also true that divers recovered materials at the bottom of the …
AvatarPopular ScienceAvatarAvatarWhat Boeing’s door-plug debacle says about the future of aviation safetyverified_publisherPopular Science - John Downer / MIT PressFor a flight to be imperiled by a simple and preventable manufacturing or maintenance error is an anomaly with ominous implications. This article was originally featured on MIT Press. On January 6, as Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, a Boeing 737 MAX 9, was climbing out of Portland, a large section of …
AvatarPopular ScienceAvatarAvatarDelta’s solar eclipse flight sold out, but your best bet to see it is still down hereverified_publisherPopular Science - Andrew PaulDon’t worry, there are plenty of places to still catch the April 8 event on the ground. Earlier this week, Delta Air Lines announced an extra flight for its April 8 schedule, timed specifically to provide passengers an aerial view of the total solar eclipse. But if you were still hoping to snag a …
AvatarPopular ScienceAvatarAvatarDid sonar finally uncover Amelia Earhart’s missing plane?verified_publisherPopular Science - Andrew PaulScans that depict what could be the famed pilot’s Lockheed 10-E Electra are still being evaluated. New deep sea sonar scans are reigniting interest in one of the 20th century’s most enduring mysteries—the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. For those in charge of maintaining the world’s largest Earhart …
AvatarPopular ScienceAvatarAvatarBoeing faces FAA audit after its 737 Max 9 plane’s door plug blew off mid-airverified_publisherPopular Science - Andrew PaulThe FAA announced it is ‘increasing oversight’ of the company, a week after the incident. The Federal Aviation Administration announced immediate “new and significant actions” to its increased oversight of Boeing’s aircraft manufacturing and production processes on Friday—one week after an Alaskan …
AvatarPopular ScienceNASA plans to unveil experimental X-59 supersonic jet on January 12verified_publisherPopular Science - Andrew PaulThe cutting-edge plane aims to generate a 75 decibel ‘sonic thump’ instead of a sonic boom. It may officially be Hollywood awards season, but NASA is also rolling out a red carpet of its own. On January 12 at 4pm EST, the agency will livestream the official public debut of its highly anticipated …
AvatarPopular ScienceAvatarAvatarHere’s what to know about the Japan Airlines collisionverified_publisherPopular Science - Andrew PaulAlthough all passengers and crew safely evacuated the commercial plane, five Japan Coast Guard members from the other aircraft did not survive. Air traffic experts are currently conducting their investigation into the deadly collision between two planes at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport that killed five …
AvatarPopular ScienceAvatarAvatarNASA’s Ingenuity helicopter set a new flight distance record on Marsverified_publisherPopular Science - Andrew PaulAlthough intended to only last 5 trips, Ingenuity just completed its 69th trip above the Martian surface. NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter (technically a rotorcraft) has made dozens of tiny aerial jaunts across Mars since first arriving on the planet in February 2021, but its latest flight set a new …
AvatarPopular ScienceYouTuber sentenced to prison after intentionally crashing his planeverified_publisherPopular Science - Andrew PaulTrevor Jacob’s infamous stunt with a single-prop Taylorcraft BL-65 sparked two years of federal investigations, fabrications, and millions of views. In case any readers need reminding: please do not intentionally crash your small prop plane into a national forest for the social media likes. If you …