Friday, January 05, 2007

Can elephants write poetry?

I WANDERED lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Whilst the above poem is attributed to William Wordsworth, it appears that even in 1888, (when the aeroplane was still a twinkle in Wilbur & Orville* Wright's eyes), that the technical ability of animals to "float" may have been more widespread than you might think.

We all know that "scientists" has said that bees are too heavy to be able to fly when one compares their body weight to the size of their wings, but what about elephants?

It has recently been scientifically proven that the weight of the average cloud is actually 550 tonnes.

550 tonnes! That is equivalent to the weight of 100 elephants.

Therefore the term 'raining cats and dogs' could soon more aptly be replaced by the term '...its raining a herd of nellies!'

* Was Keith Harris & Orville's 1990 "hit" 'I Wish I Could Fly' actually a cover version of Orville Wright's 1900 classic number?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hello Mr Helsby!
My name is Anna and I am a friend of Charlotte's at Cambridge. I have been reading your blog whle Charlotte (LLBB) is reading my personal statement and generally ensuring that I dont get thrown off our course and that I eventually get a job. I wanted to say that I LOVE LOVE LOVE your facts about clouds and I shall proceed to wow family and friends with this incredible fact for many weeks to come.
We are taking Charlotte out for her bday tomorrow night so if anything amusing happens I shall infom you and you can add to it your blog!
Warmest Regards
Anna McGrory