Off topic post (sorry Mark - can't resist this one)

From: Bill Gowen <b.gowen_at_earthlink.net>
Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 20:49:02 -0000

There was an article in our Sunday paper about Hummingbirds that makes
me think our best efforts at flight are somewhere short of the age of
dinosaurs. The Ruby Throated Hummingbird normally weighs 3-4 grams.
Before migrating from Mexico to the US, it eats enough to double it's
weight. So we can say it has 3-4 grams of fuel onboard. Then it flies
600 miles non-stop across the Gulf of Mexico, taking some 16 hours to
make the trip. I wonder if we will ever to be able to approach that
sort of efficiency with any human-made flying machines?
Received on Mon Apr 16 2007 - 13:51:57 CEST