Who says those guys at Boeing don’t have a sense of humour? The UK’s Financial Times reported that when Virgin Atlantic recently signed a deal for 43 787 Dreamliners, wags at the US aircraft manufacturer inserted a secret clause in the contract stipulating that Virgin chairman Richard Branson and his Boeing counterpart Jim McNerney both had to lose a stone (14 pounds, or 6.4 kilos) by the time the fi rst aicraft was delivered in four years time. The idea is that this would reduce carbon emissions by 36 pounds on the delivery fl ight. Branson, you will recall from our cover story in April, is all hot on airlines doing their bit in the fi ghtagainst global warming.

Virgin replied that its chairman“keeps in good shape” anyway, thougha spokesman admitted he had put ona bit of weight recently to keep warmduring an upcoming sledding trip tothe North Pole. And what is that tripdoing for global carbon emissions,we wonder? – Peter Conway