io9: airplane

Major Discovery Could Lead to Wonder Woman's Invisible Plane

Annalee Newitz — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:00:00 PDT

In the 1970s Wonder Woman TV show, the superheroine's invisible plane looked more like a glass plane. Which was, though not true to the comic, just as cool. And in fact a whole generation of TV-watching dorks grew up wanting glass planes as a result. Now those Wonder Woman fans may get their wishes. Researchers have made a major discover about the way glass functions at a molecular level - and as a result, they may be able to make super-hard glass that's as strong as steel. [Science Daily]

A Soviet Steam Train That Looks Like a Moebius Strip

Lisa Katayama — Wed, 28 May 2008 07:00:00 PDT

Luigi Colani is a world-famous, legendary industrial designer from Germany who has been inventing futuristic vehicles since the mid-20th century. He used ergonomically sensible, futuristic designs featuring giant pods and provocative aerodynamics way before anyone even thought it possible. This extraordinary design was devised for a steam train in Soviet Russia. Want to see the airplane he designed for a Japanese company?

Pictured here is a concept for an airplane that he designed for Japan Airlines. Dark Roasted Blend has a great gallery of these and more images by the 80-year old futurist. Images by Colani.de

Extravagant designs by Luigi Colani [Dark Roasted Blend]

Industrial Beauties of the 1940s

Annalee Newitz — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 06:40:42 PST

It's 1942, and these women are in Long Beach, California, inspecting massive pieces of jet wings for cargo transporters. They're real-life Rosie the Riveters, making sure these wings are ready to be assembled on the fuselage.

This is one of thousands of images released to the public through a new project of the Library of Congress. The historic images are available on Flickr, including many that showcase the beauty of industrial machinery. Library of Congress Photostream [Flickr]