5/06 Hindenburg, Chunnel, MRI, and National Public Gardens Day

Hindenburg disaster (1937)
The German dirigible  Hindenburg exploded into flames on its approach to the naval air station in Lakehurst, New Jersey.  The actual cause of the crash is still unknown but it is thought that it might have been struck by lightening or brushed against a tower.  The airship was filled with nearly 7 million cubic feet of highly flammable hydrogen.  The dirigible was similar to the modern day blimps, which have been in use since 1911.  However, the dirigible had a rigid frame and used the flammable hydrogen gas to lift the ship.  The blimp has a flexible skin and is filled with the stable helium gas. (Image of the Hindenburg burning is from Wikimedia Commons)

English Channel Tunnel opens (1994)
The 32-mile tunnel running under the English Channel to connect England and France was opened on May 6, 1994.  The “Chunnel” is actually three tunnels that were bored (drilled) through the rock on the sea floor hundreds of feet below the surface of the English Channel.  Two tunnels are used as train lines and the third is an emergency escape route.  Passengers are able to go from one end to the other in 20 minutes.

Paul Christian Lauterbur born (1929)
Paul Lauterbur (1929 – 2007) was an American chemist who developed a way to calculate the magnetic resonance responses of molecules in the body leaving to the development of the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), commonly used by physicians today to diagnose what is occurring in organs of the body.  Lauterbur received a share of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Medicine with Sir Peter Mansfield.  Lauterbur received a patent for the first MRI machine and Mansfield later improved on the processes used allowing for more rapid generation of signals and leading to the ability to easily and quickly use the machine. (MRI image of the brain from Wikimedia commons)

National Public Gardens Day
May 6, 2011, National Public Gardens Day is a national day of celebration to raise awareness of America’s public gardens and their important role in promoting environmental stewardship and awareness, plant and water conservation, and education in communities nationwide. National Public Gardens Day is celebrated the Friday before Mother’s Day.

Science in my Life for
Yesterday – Today – Tomorrow