A Swiss man has become the first person to fly across the English Channel using a single jet-propelled wing. 'Fusionman' Yves Rossy made the 36km journey from Calais to Dover in 10 minutes at a speed of around 200km per hour.

VIDEO: Watch a video of Yves Rossy performing a test flight of the jet-propelled wing. Add a comment

The destructive intensity of the winds caused by tropical storms and hurricanes has increased significantly in the past 30 years, in line with the theory that cyclones are becoming stronger because of global warming, scientists said yesterday. By Steve Connor, The Independent. Add a comment

The Carlow bypass is open and while it may bring relief to the beleaguered citizens of Carlow town who now can cross the road without having to apply for annual leave, it also has provided a wonderful feast for the eyes of the motorists who are in the act of  circumnavigating the town. Or at least the cutaway raised verges of the motorway are. Add a comment

Draighean
Prunus spinosa

People often confuse blackthorn and white thorn. Both are thorny and produce white flowers but there the similarity ends as they are two entirely separate species.   Country people know that an encounter with blackthorn is much more severe as it can inflict a septic splinter.

 

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If Lennon and McCartney were writing one of their most iconic songs today, it would have to read very differently:

“Because the world is anything but round, it does not turn scientists on .
For they cannot track climate change with anything like the accuracy
that they would like.
Because the wind is high (but sometimes low, and depending on the shape
of the geoid).
It blows their mind.” Add a comment

(Glasóg liath)
Motacilla cinerea

Easily identified by its grey and yellow plumage and exceptionally long tail, the Grey Wagtail is a common and widespread bird across Ireland, remaining with us all year.  Rarely found far away from water, it favours fast-flowing streams and rivers with adjacent trees; in winter, it generally moves to lower elevations, when it will also frequent ponds and lakeshores, farms and, occasionally, gardens.

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(Melli-fons, Honey Fountain) 

Ireland's first Cistercian Abbey, Mellifont Abbey was founded by St Malachy, Bishop of Armagh, in 1142. He brought the order to Ireland having  visited the Cistercian monastery run by St Bernard at Clairvaux. The order prospered,  becoming the head house of 20 monasteries and governing thousands of acres in Meath and Louth until its dissolution in 1539.

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Some of Ireland's finest trees were Elms.   However, most of these were destroyed by Dutch Elm Disease during the 1970's. Pollen records show there was a similar, drastic decline in our elm population about 5,000 years ago.
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