Posts Tagged ‘blimp’

Solar Powered Zeppelin? Actually, It’s A Blimp

Call me crazy, but I think zeppelins have gotten a bad rap. Sure, the Hindenburg went up in flames rather spectacularly, and airplanes made slow-moving dirigibles all but obsolete after WWII. But I still love me some giant floating gas bags.

So this announcement that a team of French engineering and tech students have come up with solar-powered blimp that uses flexible solar cells gets me all giddy. Called Project Sol’R, the team hopes to cross the English Channel using their blimp, simply to prove that it can be done.

Peak Helium? We are Running Out of Helium

helium is an endangered gas used to power the Goodyear blimpNo more squeaky voices from floating balloons. No more Goodyear blimps. We may have reached peak helium levels, as this inert gas is endangered.

According to Scientific Blogging, helium is not readily renewable and is made through from uranium and thorium decaying over billions of years:

Lee Sobotka, professor of chemistry and physics at Washington University in St.

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