Author Archives: Niall Murphy

Behold: the Sinot Aqua – an ultra luxury conceptual super yacht with a nod to environmental responsibility. Powered by PEM fuel cells fed by liquid hydrogen, the only by product of propulsion is water.

Stealthy, on account of its electric drive, the ship has a 3,750 nautical mile range at a speed of 17 knots.

The impressive 112m length provides for a wide beam pavilion on the upper level, beach deck, VIP staterooms, a large pool and the usual slew of sunpads, ‘wellness zones’ and outdoor dining areas.

No, it wouldn’t fit in Bray harbour or hook up nice behind a 1998 Subaru Forester.

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What on Earth is going on here? Jet lightning is what. To wit:

While flying from Munich to Singapore earlier this month, an industrious passenger took images of a passing lightning storm and caught something unexpected: gigantic jet lightning. The jet was captured on a single 3.2-second exposure above Bhadrak, India. Although the gigantic jet appears connected to the airplane’s wing, it likely started in a more distant thundercloud, and can be seen extending upwards towards Earth’s ionosphere. The nature of gigantic jets and their possible association with other types of Transient Luminous Events (TLEs) such as blue jets and red sprites remains an active topic of research.

(Image: Hung-Hsi Chang)

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