Reform’s rise speaks to a deep crisis in Establishment parties – but relies on appealing to social and economic grievances the left should make its own, argues NICK WRIGHT

WITH an average of 5,500 aeroplanes landing and departing within Britain every day, short- and long-haul aeroplane journeys have become commonplace since the first scheduled commercial flight in 1914. Although the principles of flight may seem mystifying, aeroplanes today rely on simple fundamentals of aerodynamics — just as they did a hundred years ago.
The four forces that act on an aeroplane are lift, weight, thrust and drag. We can understand their interplay using Isaac Newton’s three laws of motion, formulated in the 17th century.
Thrust is generated by the engines of an aeroplane, acting forwards. Newton’s third law of motion states that every action (or force) has an equal and opposite reaction (force in the opposing direction).
The opposing force to thrust is drag, acting backwards. Drag arises from the aeroplane moving through the air (think about when you try to move through a strong wind and feel the resistance from the air pushing on you).

A maverick’s self-inflicted snake bites could unlock breakthrough treatments – but they also reveal deeper tensions between noble scientific curiosity and cold corporate callousness, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
Science has always been mixed up with money and power, but as a decorative facade for megayachts, it risks leaving reality behind altogether, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT

