Owners of super-light laptops can appreciate the miracle of carbon fiber, a strong but light material being used more and more in high-end notebooks.
Airbus is now using the same carbon fiber material in the wings of its new A400M military aircraft. The reduced weight of the wings “cuts the fuel consumption by at least 20%," said Dave Phipps, head of the Airbus carbon fiber research department.
"It’s a revolutionary technology. It is so much lighter, and yet just as strong and just as safe," Phipps told BBC News. The A400M planes will replace current C-130 planes currently in use in Iraq and Afghanistan. The first A400M will be shown in Seville, Spain today but the planes won’t take flight until later this summer.