Architect Norman Foster’s Viaduc de Millau is the tallest bridge in the world, with the summit of its highest mast towering 1,125 ft above the base – making it the tallest structure in all of France. A cable-stayed bridge – meaning cables attached to pylons support the roadway – it spans the valley of the River Tam for one and a half miles along a road deck 900 ft above the ground. Ranked as one of the great engineering achievements of all time, it’s exhilarating to drive across. And yet the true magnitude of the achievement only becomes clear at a distance: joining two massive geological plateaus together.
file under: coolest bridge ever
lost in space
The most iconic photos from the manned exploration of space come from the monumental Apollo project. But if you’re not a camera buff or a space-history enthusiast, you may not know that nearly every single famous photo from that program was taken using Hasselblad cameras. See more (inter) stellar images here, courtesy of Wired, which is presenting a gallery of some of the best shots that astronauts took from the moon and space with Hasselblad cameras in honor of the 44th anniversary of Apollo 11’s historic landing.
waste not, want not
Cooking waste is not something anybody likes to dwell on, but in an ambitious multi-million dollar deal announced by the renewable energy company 2OC and Thames Water, grease, oil, and fat from thousands of London restaurants and food companies will live out a second life as fuel for a power station. By 2015, Beckton, in East London, is slated to become the world’s largest fat-fuelled power station, capable of producing 130 gigawatt hours of renewable electricity, or enough energy to run 39,000 average-sized homes. Fat poured down the drain creates fatbergs – who knew? – which cause blockages and cost taxpayers upwards of a million and a half dollars per month to clear. Rather than dumping all that waste down the drain or into landfills, the sustainable initiative will collect thirty tons of waste per day – more than half the fuel the plant needs to operate daily. The rest will come from waste vegetable oil and animal fats. The concept could prove a windfall for creating a more sustainable food system, ensuring that food waste is dealt with in an innovative and appropriate manner. As Chief Executive Officer of 2OC, Andrew Mercer, explains, “Our renewable power and heat from waste oils and fats is fully sustainable. When Thames doesn’t need our output, it will be made available to the grid meaning that power will be sourced, generated and used in London by Londoners.” It’s like grandma always said: waste not, want not.
the sun and the moon and the pan-starrs
Stargazers gearing up for this weekend’s close encounter with the comet Pan-STARRS may be able to get an even better view than they expected. A German travel company is taking 88 people to watch the comet from a plane, flying 36,000 feet above the Earth. Bonn-based Eclipse Travel has teamed up with Air Berlin to organize a Boeing 737-700 flight for its first-ever comet observation trip. The one-time flight will follow a zigzag flight plan to give everyone on board the best possible view. For anyone not wanting to share a window there’s an option to reserve two adjoining seats, or even an entire row. While sky watchers on the ground might have to endure a view through clouds and smog, the atmosphere at 8.6 miles up in the air is thinner and more transparent for a clearer perspective, says Eclipse’s website. NASA scientists predict Pan-STARRS’s dazzling tail of gas and dust could rival the stars of the Big Dipper in brightness as it passes 100 million miles from Earth. However, NASA scientists say the show could also be a bust if the comet crumbles under the heat and gravitational pull of the Sun. Already visible in the Southern Hemisphere, Pan-STARRS is the first of two comets to be visible to the naked eye this year. Tickets for the two-hour comet observation flight range from $470-$663 through the Eclipse website, though anyone short on funds might want to hold off until November. That’s when Comet ISON is expected to pass by Earth. Scientists are already predicting it will be one of the brightest comets ever seen and might even out-shine the moon.