There have been many different attempts by scientists and engineers to devise a way to build a space tether or ‘elevator’ and yes most of them involve constructing a really long cable of some kind – 38,000km or more to be exact! The idea is that the cable would be in a geostationary orbit around Earth, one end of the cable would be attached to either a fixed or mobile platform on the Earth and the other end would connect with some kind of counterweight, high above the Earth’s atmosphere. ...

Unfortunately no. One of the things which Einstein realised from his theories of relativity is that as any particle of mass increases in speed it also increases in mass. By the time the mass has finally reached the speed of light it would have infinite mass which would mean to get it to that stage would have required an infinite amount of energy and I don’t know about you but there are a definite shortage of infinite energy sources in this universe!

Today the Solar Impulse HB-SIA will take off for the first time from Payerne. Following ground tests conducted over the last few days and with the weather forecast looking like it should fit the requirements, test pilot Markus Scherdel will be at the prototype’s controls to take the plane up for its first flight. The objective of today's mission is to verify that the plane’s flight behaviour is in line with the calculations and simulations done using the flight simulator. With such a large and light plane never ...

Issue 7 of How It Works features an incredible two-page interview with everyone's favourite particle physicist. The inimitable Brian Cox is a highly intelligent particle physicist and yet he's also a hugely popular household name. Very few personalities successfully cross the border between the scholarly world of academia and the popular arena of mainstream entertainment, but Cox manages it with a natural charm and eminently listenable style. When issue 7 of How It Works hits shops on 22 April, inside you'll find ...

Well, it's that time again when we give you a sneaky peek at the next issue of your favourite science and technology-fest – How It Works magazine. This issue doesn't hit the shelves until Thursday 25 March so until now only subscribers (who receive their copies well in advance of the on-sale date) and we, the magazine's tireless creators, know what lies in store in issue 6… But today we're ready to share. As well as all the regular brain-based joy we bring you month after month, this issue we're packing ...

Your early sample of the next jam-packed issue of How It Works is here From an interview with the inimitable Johnny Ball to a fascinating introduction to your immune system, issue five is jam-packed with knowledge for you to soak up. And to kick off the issue and the Formula One season, we have put together a bumper feature dedicated to all things F1. From the cars to the drivers and from the pit lane to the circuits, this feature offers everything ...

The world's first vertical takeoff passenger liner. Although regular readers will remember the incredibly hi-tech V-22 Osprey military helicopter we featured in issue three, this historic video reveals that VTOL technology in its infancy. Like the Osprey, Fairey Aviation's Rotodyne was an aircraft capable of vertical takeoff and landing while carrying a large payload. Whereas the Osprey admittedly has state-of-the-art tilt rotors, the Rotodyne featured a combination of static ...

Discover what it would be like to experience a suborbital spaceflight on Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo in this impressive animation that takes you from launch to zero gravity and back down to Earth in six minutes In December, Britain's radical entrepreneur Richard Branson unveiled SpaceShipTwo, the custom-made spacecraft set to ferry eager – and rich – space enthusiasts off the planet for a once-in-a-lifetime trip beyond Earth's atmosphere. Tickets for the excursions, which can accommodate six passengers at a time, will set intrepid astronaut wannabes back an eye-watering $200,000....

Take a look at this reconstruction of an early automobile designed by the great inventor and polymath Leonardo da Vinci. Arguably the embodiment of the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci was celebrated for his in-depth knowledge and innovatory prowess. A master scientist, mathematician, artist, inventor, botanist, architect, sculptor and anatomist, da Vinci left literally thousands of designs and inventions, including conceptions for a tank, helicopter and calculator. However, upon his death, his great accumulated knowledge (over 33,000 pages ...

It's what you've all been waiting for: the sneaky preview of issue 3 on sale 31 December The jet engine explained Discover how oilrigs extract oil from the seabed Sharks – all you'll ever need to know about these underwater killers We take an in-depth look at the classic Spitfire fighter plane And ...