From London to Australia in 5 hours? Way cool.

by Iva Skoch on

A UK company, Reaction Engines, introduced exploratory plans for a hypersonic, eco-friendly passenger jet that would make it possible to fly from the UK to Australia in as little as 5 hours, reports The Guardian today. With funding from the European Space Agency, a team of engineers and scientists has come up with the A2, a plane they believe could carry 300 passengers at a top speed of more than 3,000mph.

Reaction Engines has designed an engine that would run on liquid hydrogen, rather than producing vast amounts of carbon emissions it gives off water vapor and nitrous oxide. Another advantage of the design is that while the 132 meter-long A2 is much bigger than conventional jets it would be lighter than a Boeing 747 and could land on current airport runways. There are some drawbacks, too, such as the possibility of damaging the atmosphere, because the plane would fly at around the height of the ozone layer. Also, it won’t be great for anyone who suffers from claustrophobia, as it does not have any windows.

Who needs windows if surfing in sunny Bondi Beach becomes a day trip, though?

From green Ireland to the Plastic States of America

by Iva Skoch on

Since I travel back and forth between the US and Europe very frequently, I no longer get a culture shock every time. There are some things that still get me though. One of them are plastic bags in grocery stores.

When I come back to the US, I get really annoyed because I literally get about 5 bags (paper or plastic) for about 10 items of groceries. The excess is staggering. It is a struggle to convince the baggers to NOT give me bags. It is “are you sure?” every time. Come on, is it really necessary to double bag that bottle of cheap beer?

According to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually. An estimated 12 million barrels of oil is required to make that many plastic bags (that’s roughly the amount of oil the US consumes in a day). Plastic bags cause over 100,000 whale, turtle and other animal deaths every year when animals mistake them for food.

A lot of European countries are now talking about forcing grocery stores to charge customers for their bags. I mean openly charge them. Of course, the customer pays for them either way, but when bags are “free”, they are actually covered in the cost of the food. The more bags you use, the more expensive your food. Ireland, for example was one of the first countries to pass the plastic bag tax in 2002: 33 cents if you want a bag with your purchase, which is hardly unreasonable. And guess what, within weeks, there was a 94 percent drop in plastic bag use. That is the funny thing about people – they like free stuff, even if free isn’t really free.

Strange travel crimes: “Mini thieves” hide in luggage aboard bus

by Anna Brones on

Whenever a friend is going to an exotic destination I tend to think to myself, “I wish I could fit into their luggage.” I am however relatively tall and I think being crammed in a suitcase would be even more uncomfortable than sitting in half of an airplane seat. Some are physically more inclined to fit into luggage, which is exactly what happened last week in Sweden.

Swedish bus line Swebus recently reported that it had reason to believe a group of thieves had crammed one of their smaller cronies into a large bag and stored it in the luggage compartment of a bus. Once the bus was safely on its way, the person allegedly climbed out of his/her hiding space, searched the rest of the baggage and made off with valuables such as an mp3 player and a camera.

Although allegations are unconfirmed, Swebus spokesperson Pia Kråvall did say that, “It is very possible that a small person is being placed in a bag in order to search through the other bags.”

Travelers on Swebus have consequently been warned to keep all valuables on them to thwart the “mini thieves.” It all goes to show, you never know what someone could be hiding in their suitcase.

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Ever seen a plane this cool?

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Dollar: the not-so-universal travel currency

by Iva Skoch on

If the dollar continues its downward spiral this year, it may be necessary for people to switch from dollars to euros for their travel cash.

According to this NY Times article yesterday, many countries are no longer willing to take dollars instead of their currency as a way to get into museums, and pay for hotels and restaurants. While many countries in Latin America still happily accept the dollar because they currencies are either pegged to the dollar or it is the dollar, an increasing number of countries in Asia and Africa, for example, prefer the euro over the dollar.

The Taj Mahal, for example, no longer accepts dollars for the entrance fee. Tourists used to be able to pay $15 to get in. Now, they are required to only pay in rupees (750), which is actually $19. You would think they would just increase the entrance fee in dollars, but maybe they actually really don’t want dollars.

First A380 flight in Europe: March 18

by Iva Skoch on

Singapore Airlines currently flies both of the only two operating Airbus A380 airplanes in the world on the Sydney-Singapore route. The third plane, also purchased by Singapore Airlines, will operate on the London – Singapore route, starting March 18. This will be the first commercial flight with the world’s biggest plane in Europe.

Tickets for this flight are already on sale, starting at 550GBP (approx. $1100). First class tickets have not been priced yet. The Singapore Airlines A380 has 471 seats available in three classes: 12 seats in their ultra-luxury suites (see picture), 60 seats in business class and 399 in economy.

Those luxury suites don’t look too bad. I don’t think I want to know how much they go for.

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