Ready for take-off

Concorde may fly again, thanks to pieces of polymer floating in its fuel
tanks. Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority will only reinstate the plane’s
certificate of airworthiness if, among other things, British Airways can come up
with a way to stop the flow of fuel if the tanks are punctured. BA is proposing
to do this by having Kevlar strips floating in the fuel. “It works like a mat
floating in a bath,” explains a BA spokesman. “When you pull the plug, the mat
fills the hole.”