Boston

Concorde establishes London-to-U.S. record

One of the Concorde’s last flights was also its fastest.

The British Airways supersonic jetliner landed in Boston Wednesday in a record London-to-U.S. time of three hours, five minutes and 34 seconds, according to airline spokesman Jeff Angel.

The old record of three hours and nine minutes was set in 1974 on a flight from Paris to Boston.

The Concorde is visiting Boston as part of its North American farewell tour, which includes stops in Washington and Toronto.

The fleet is being taken out of service because of rising costs. The aircraft’s last trans-Atlantic flight is Oct. 24.

The Concorde makes the London-to-Boston trip nearly two hours quicker than a traditional jet aircraft. It travels at 60,000 feet at more than 1,300 mph, twice the speed of sound.

Los Angeles

Michael Bannister, chief Concorde pilot for British Airways, waves after the Concorde lands in Boston as part of a farewell North American tour for the aircraft. The jet set a speed record Wednesday.

Scientists say sonar may give whales ‘bends’

Panicked by the sound waves emitted by powerful sonar, whales and dolphins fleeing to the surface of the ocean may succumb to “the bends,” according to an international team of scientists looking into mysterious die-offs of marine mammals that have occurred in the wake of military exercises at sea.

Writing in the journal Nature issued today, the scientists theorize that the frightened mammals surface too quickly, causing compressed gas bubbles to burst inside them like fizz from an uncorked champagne bottle and damaging their internal organs.

The scientists report finding tissue damage in livers, kidneys and other organs of whales and dolphins that is consistent with decompression sickness, known as the bends, that has claimed the lives of many human scuba divers.

The authors theorize that these air-breathing marine mammals, renowned for their sensitive hearing, react to the extraordinarily loud sounds by surfacing faster than they normally would.

Washington, D.c.

Education Department promotes school reform

The Education Department on Wednesday launched a campaign to improve the nation’s public high schools, prodding states to expand their rigorous course offerings and to demand more of students before they head to college or work.

“The number of children who leave our educational system unprepared is staggering,” Education Secretary Rod Paige said in announcing the initiative to roughly 700 school and business leaders at a high school summit.

The department’s effort includes a series of regional meetings on high school improvement, new Web sites on college financial aid and career choices, fresh grants to help students prepare for tougher courses and teams of advisers to help states pursue reforms.

The push comes amid growing concerns about high school students, from declining national test scores in key subjects to complaints from colleges and employers about students’ skills.

Washington, D.C.

Gala featuring Bush raises $14 million

The Republican National Committee raised at least $14 million Wednesday at a gala featuring President Bush, expanding an already substantial fund-raising advantage over the committee’s Democratic rival.

The event featured a New York theme, with sections reminiscent of various parts of the city, including Chinatown and Little Italy. Donors munched on hot dogs, cotton candy, pizza and other New York sidewalk-stand fare. New York is the site of next year’s Republican National Convention next year.

“I’ve got two goals in ’04. One is slightly selfish,” Bush said with a chuckle. “The other is to make sure Denny Hastert remains speaker of the House and Bill Frist majority leader of the Senate.” Hastert, R-Ill., and Frist, R-Tenn., would maintain control of the two chambers of Congress if the Republicans retain their majorities.

The RNC took in a record of more than $30 million at the event last year, before a ban on corporate, union and unlimited contributions took effect.