Solar plane takes off in Switzerland

Agence France-Press reports on the historical solar plane flight that took off this morning in Switzerland.

Star Impulse (picture right) set off to fly on a 25 hour trip from Payerne, Switzerland. The ground crew will see if it can take in enough electrical charge during daylight hours to continue overnight.

The round-the-clock flight by the prototype built last year is the first major hurdle for the project since it started seven years ago, with the aim of flying around the world by 2013 or 2014.

The speed is only 22 miles per hour with a single pilot. This is much slower than a small aircraft like a Cessna that reaches over 100 mph.

Read the full story: Solar plane sets out on historic flight

Photo from France 24

Swiss cowbells crafted in traditional way

Stars and Stripes reports on a Swiss craftsman who still creates cowbells in the old traditional way.

Swiss cows usually wear bells when they are grazing in mountain pastures so their farmers can know where they are. Anyone who has visited the Alps can associate the gentle bonging of cowbells with the beige-colored cows grazing on the mountain grass.

Eligius Schelbert is a Glockenschmiede — a bell smith — in the central Swiss town of Muotathal. He makes three kinds of bells, each in 15 sizes, from tiny bells worn by sheep to giant bells usually used for decoration.

Schelbert is following a family tradition that started in 1870. He’s the fourth generation in his family to carry on the bell-making trade. These days he makes most of his bells using steel, which he orders in different degrees of thickness. He cuts down the metal, then hammers the pieces to the required size and welds them together. He follows 26 steps to produce each bell.

When he’s in the mountains, Schelbert says he can recognize the sound of one of his bells.

Read the full story: Swiss craftsman upholds tradition of making bells for bovines

Photo by Christian Perret / Courtesy of Swiss Image