Solar Planes That Aren't Solar, Nano Snowmen That Aren't Snow

Remember Solar Impulse, the piloted, solar-powered plane that would circumnavigate the globe? Well, it took its first test flight this week, leading to a round of huzzahs from the press. However, you might want to contain the enthusiasm a little, because both "solar" and "flight" are a tad misleading. "Hop," as the BBC called the test, is more like it. Solar Impulse got airborne for 30 seconds, though that allowed it to travel 350 meters. And as you can see in the image, the plane didn't exactly reach the stratosphere. As far as "solar" is concerned, the plane's solar panels weren't even hooked up. It ran on battery power. That's fine; Solar Impulse will have to run on battery power when it eventually reaches the night stages of its round-the-world trip. We hope the project is eventually a rousing success, but this was a non-solar test. Secondly, we here at Discoblog were deflated to click on the Telegraph headline "Scientists Create the World's Smallest 'Snowman,'" only to learn that those quotes around "snowman" are there because it's not actually snow. Rather: