Earlier in the trip, he characterized prospects for funding for the new Mouse House as do-able. Make sustainability fly Paul MacCready s claim to fame, of which he s earned quite a bit, is making things go on as little energy as possible. In fact, he has designed aircraft that fly on power supplied only by human muscle. His human powered craft fooled the experts in the 1970s by actually flying and even crossing the English Channel. When you re unfettered, you can go way out and achieve your goals, he told the Wigner Auditorium crowd on April 12.
Impractical ideas result in very practical devices.
They knew too much, he said of the doubters. Although the skies probably won t ever be dotted with pedaling aviators, MacCready has designed solar-powered unmanned craft that can stay aloft at high altitudes for months to perform surveillance or scientific missions. MacCready emphasized that energy-efficient designs like his are more than novelties. They represent a critical approach to how scientists now and in the future can help maintain a stressed Earth. Humans are no longer subject to Earth s checks and balances, but the Earth isn t getting any bigger.