First and last aircraft carriers

The first one

By chance I found an online article (Ref.1) about the first aircraft carrier in naval history, i.e. the first ship on which an aircraft landed and took off. It was the cruiser Pennsylvania, of the U.S. Navy, and the first landing on its provisional flight deck occurred on January 18, 1911, in San Francisco, California, by a biplane aircraft Curtiss, piloted by Eugene B. Ely , a U.S. professional civil pilot.

Should cruise ships have a double hull ?

Considerations on the Costa Concordia accident

The recent accident involving the cruise ship Costa Concordia on the Italian coast of the Giglio Island is producing the usual questions that arise after any disaster affecting human lives. It is the question of whether the safety of the facility in question is sufficient, be it either a ship, aircraft, train, skyscraper etc. Clearly there is not a complete safety in any order of life, but it is also clear that any current safety level can be improved and the issue is deciding when and where the laws and regulations governing safety are to be changed to get better expectations.

History teaches us that mankind is learning the hard way. When we suffer a great accident is when we consider that perhaps safety provisions are not adequate and should be analyzed in detail and realism to decide whether they should be improved.