British acoustic mirrors methods early radar

Britain's sound mirrors helped radar succeed

Britain's interwar sound-listening mirrors could detect faster aircraft only when they were already too close to engage, so they could not give effective warning. The program did develop ways to link listening stations and plot aircraft movements. The early radar team received those methods, which contributed to its success in World War II.

Kant imagined other galaxies long before telescopes confirmed them

In 1755, philosopher Immanuel Kant suggested that some faint nebulae might be enormous systems of stars comparable to the Milky Way. At the time, astronomers did not know whether these cloudy patches lay inside our galaxy or far beyond it. Only in the twentieth century did observations establish that many were separate galaxies. Kant had proposed the possibility long before it could be tested.

The burst thought to have caused the Carrington Event arrived fast

17.6 hours

A burst of material from the Sun, thought to have caused the 1859 Carrington Event, traveled about 150 million km to Earth in 17.6 hours. Such bursts typically take several days to arrive.

Like this? There’s a whole feed of it. Replace empty scrolling with things worth knowing.

Download Hence for free

British acoustic mirrors methods early radar

Britain's sound mirrors helped radar succeed

Discover something new