Airplanes generate enough lift to fly by accelerating air faster over their moving wings, which makes the pressure above the wings lower than the pressure below.

Airports at high elevations, like Denver International Airport, have longer runways than most airports because airplanes cannot take off or land as quickly in thinner air.

Turbulence is needed to make airplanes more stable and golf balls fly farther

Vortex generators—small fins placed along airplane wings—create small eddies that prevent airflow separation, maintaining lift and preventing stalls. Golf balls have dimples that create a turbulent boundary layer on their surface, minimizing drag forces.

The Wright Flyer was an engineering breakthrough, and modern aircraft still use the same principles of flight.

The turbulence experienced in airplanes results from unexpected changes in airflow

Pilots rely on forecasts, onboard tools, and air traffic control to avoid regions of severe turbulence during flight. Turbulence is generally weaker for those sitting in the front of the main cabin and for morning flights that follow cooler nighttime temperatures.

Differences in pressure and temperature between atmospheric gases create wind

Because Earth's surface is not uniformly heated by the sun at all times, pockets of warmer and cooler air will form and interact. Warmer pockets of less dense air will rise, leaving gaps for cooler, denser air to move in. Wind is this movement of air from high-pressure to low-pressure areas.

Wind is the movement of air caused by the sun's uneven heating of Earth

The tilt, curvature, and variations in Earth's surface composition across the globe cause different regions to receive different amounts of solar radiation. As the Earth spins and tries to achieve thermal equilibrium, air masses move and interact, creating wind.

High-altitude kites can perform airborne collection of energy from high-speed winds

Winds at high altitude are stronger and more consistent than those near Earth's surface, where natural and artificial barriers disrupt airflow. Kites pulled by the wind can extend a tether like a yo-yo, creating electricity in an attached ground generator.

Using wind tunnels, the brothers corrected a centuries-old error used to measure lift

When their early gliders failed, the Wright brothers scrutinized inherited data analysis. Smeaton’s coefficient had been used to calculate the density of air (0.005) for centuries. The Wright’s data validation through the use of small, laboratory wind tunnels showed the correct number was 0.0033.

Tornado formation relies on wind shear to create a tube of rotating air

Once a horizontal vortex is created by air circulating between winds of different directions and speeds, an updraft, such as those seen in powerful thunderstorms, tilts the vortex vertically. The updraft then strengthens the vortex, which becomes a tornado upon touching the ground.

Their 1901 Wind Tunnel system revolutionized the study of aeronautics

Only the second to be built in the US, the wind tunnel allowed the brothers to study how air moves around more than 200 different wing shapes. This data helped them refine a key math equation, long held as the standard, that had been based only on one wing shape.

Visualize how alternating currents—electricity that periodically changes direction—are generated by rotating magnetic fields, as occurs in turbine-generator systems.

Explore a timeline of advancements in American aviation

From the Wright brothers' flight of the first powered plane in 1903 near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, to SpaceX's debut of the Falcon 9 rocket in 2010 with reusable boosters, this interactive shows off the technological evolution of flight, from mechanical propulsion to ballistic spaceflight. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

When modeling the fastest way to board passengers onto an airplane, research shows that random boarding is often faster than boarding in groups.

Wind turbines are limited to capturing no more than 59.3% of incoming wind energy

In 1919, German physicist Albert Betz applied the laws of conservation of mass and momentum to airstreams to calculate the theoretical limit. However, real-world turbines only convert 35 to 45% of available wind energy into electricity.

Hurricanes spin due to differences in air and ground speed as they move across Earth

The movement of an object across latitudes causes it to take a curved trajectory because its speed no longer matches that of the ground beneath it. This phenomenon, called the Coriolis effect, explains why hurricanes spin counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

The pair began their aviation research by studying the 'mechanics' of birds

Taking inspiration from gliding pioneer Otto Lilienthal—whose gliders resembled the wings of birds—Wilbur took to observing birds to understand how they do it, in order to solve the problem of flight. This opening episode on the brothers explores their lives and accomplishments.

The Wrights’ patent battles delayed the development of aviation technology in the US

By the time World War I began in 1914, the US was lagging behind European powers in aviation. This stemmed primarily from wars over patents between the Wrights and competitor Glenn Curtiss. The pair argued their 1906 patent covered all mechanisms enabling lateral flight.

How jet streams, which reside in the troposphere, shape and confine pockets of atmospheric air

These fast-flowing ribbons of air are hundreds of kilometers wide and typically travel from west to east due to Earth's rotation, with the polar front and subtropical jets serving as major drivers of global circulation. Warmer air near the equator pushes the polar front jets toward the poles, which can buckle and deform them as they contain frigid polar vortex systems.

How did the Wright brothers invent the airplane?

This article explores the research processes that led Wilbur and Orville Wright to invent the airplane and includes photos and visualizations of their findings and inventions.

'Breather holes' in airplane windows help manage cabin pressure

Airplane windows have three layers of acrylic: the super durable outside layer, the inner pane which acts like a "scratch" surface, and the middle pane with the tiny hole. This bleed hole allows pressurized cabin air to be borne by the strong outer pane while preventing the inner pane from breaking.

Technological advancements will make future wind turbines more efficient and quieter

Manufacturing larger, more powerful turbines will result in future wind farms requiring fewer of them to meet energy demands. Larger turbines will meet these demands while rotating at lower speeds, reducing risks to avian wildlife.

Pilots are familiar with multiple types of turbulence, each with varying severity

Each type is defined based on what disrupts airflow in the atmosphere, including thunderstorms, mountains, and wakes produced by aircraft that previously took off. Pilots classify turbulence as light, moderate, severe, or extreme based on how it affects aircraft movement.

Explore an interactive graphic of a wind turbine's components

Wind turbines contain a gearbox that increases the rotation of the blades by a factor of 100 from low to high-speed shafts. The latter moves magnets that change the magnetic field within a generator, creating electricity.

Objects that move faster than the speed of sound—Mach 1—create shockwaves called sonic booms by building up and forcing sound waves to combine as they lag behind the object.

An explanation distinguishing the butterfly effect from causality, necessity, and sufficiency

In pop culture, the analogy has conveyed the impression that the flapping of a butterfly's wings has a cascading effect that directly produces a tornado somewhere else on Earth. However, butterfly-wing flapping alone is insufficient to cause tornadoes, as the complexity of atmospheric systems requires many more conditions to produce them, any of which can be the tipping point to initiate tornadogenesis.

Some tectonic plates move faster than their underlying convection currents

Like a chain slipping off a ledge, as tectonic plates sink, their weight can pull the rest of the trailing plate forward, accelerating their movement. Plates can also break apart and fall, creating a suction effect that drives movement, resembling leaves following a passing car.

Laminar flow moves in smooth, parallel layers, while turbulent flow is chaotic

In laminar flow, particles that make up a fluid move in consistent paths that do not cross each other. Contrastingly, differences across the speed of these particles cause them to mix, creating turbulence when viscosity cannot suppress the differences.

According to the equivalence principle, objects in a closed space cannot tell the difference between whether they are accelerating or experiencing a uniform gravitational field.

Windmills can be designed to pump groundwater for irrigation or land drainage

A gearbox within the windmill converts the windmill's rotation into the vertical motion of a piston that pushes water up a pipe. It also drives the rotation of an Archimedes screw to move water to higher elevations.

For the same cost, turbines with three blades are the most resilient

Odd-numbered blade values more evenly distribute wind loads across the face of rotors, reducing bending and twisting forces on the turbine that cause wear. Modeling shows that three blades optimize efficiency and cost for everyday wind speeds.

When experiencing turbulence, fluid elements undergo stretching and folding

Simulations show patches of fluid particles, such as splashes of milk, bend under turbulent flow, creating curvature that grows linearly then exponentially. This accelerated deformation enhances folding and mixing faster than other methods, such as stirring or beating.

Hurricanes, which rely on air consistently spinning in the same direction, cannot cross the equator because air curves in opposite directions north and south of it.

The drastically different seat tiers on airplanes are a prime example of 'price segmentation,' which is key to keeping airlines profitable.

Wind turbines explained

Wind turbines have powered homes since 1887, and today they’re stronger, quieter, and more reliable than ever. Offshore wind could power millions and grow fast enough to meet climate goals.

Wind farms are targets for conspiracy theories due to their visibility and complexity

The proliferation of misinformation and conspiracy theories surrounding wind farms is driven by deep-seated anxieties about change, distrust of government, and resistance to confronting the complexities of modern energy solutions.

From 1990 to 2020, wind turbine height and blade length have more than tripled

Wind turbines' energy generation capacity—or maximum power rating—also increased by 375% from 1998 to 2023. As of that year, wind turbines can produce more energy per dollar than solar panels, though transportation and installation challenges remain.

Wilbur published key papers, gave speeches in the burgeoning aviation community

Much of the theoretical work is credited to Wilbur, whose scientific mind observed birds and early pioneers to discover the key problem to solve was control. This 1901 speech surveys the recent work in the field and showcases what the brothers worked on two years before their breakthrough flight.

Rising wildfire smoke can create 'fire clouds'—towering clouds that can help combat fires through downbursts of rain or complicate firefighting efforts by triggering new fires via lightning strikes.

During World War II, fighter plane turbulence was used to make ice cream.

The informal boundary between the Earth and outer space lies within the atmosphere

Located approximately 100 kilometers (62.1 miles) above Earth's surface, the Kármán line serves as the approximate location where air density is too low to support aerodynamic lift to keep an aircraft airborne. Beyond this height, thrust is needed to propel objects through the air.

Watch how scientists learn about hurricanes by flying into them

A specialized fleet of Air Force planes is built to fly into hurricanes and gather critical data from inside the storm. Beyond radar and microwave sensors, the planes are equipped with dropsondes—small instruments dropped into storms to measure pressure, temperature, and wind.

The aviation industry built trust in automation by keeping pilots in the cockpit

Nearly 70% of Americans feel uncomfortable riding in a driverless car, and 81% of them would not fly on a pilotless plane. However, automated systems on planes were slowly introduced and advertised as enhancing safety—an approach that may benefit driverless vehicles.

NASA uses a specialized plasma wind tunnel to test heat shield technology

The ArcJet Complex ionizes compressed air that fires onto shields at hypersonic speeds, replicating the conditions of high-speed, planetary reentry. An enhanced facility incorporates lasers to mimic the radiant heating experienced during high-energy atmospheric traversal.

Internal-combustion engines convert fuel into motion using controlled explosions

Gasoline engines mix fuel and air, compressing it and igniting it to create thousands of tiny explosions that push pistons up and down. This movement spins the crankshaft, which moves a vehicle's wheels.

Explaining the Leidenfrost effect, where water can hover and move against gravity

Water droplets can glide across surfaces whose temperatures are well above water's boiling point. This heat instantly vaporizes the bottom of the droplet, creating a layer of steam that the rest of the droplet rides and bounces upon. This can be seen when sprinkling water on skillets to determine if the surface is hot enough to cook on.

Though less common, tornadoes can form without the presence of thunderstorms

Supercell tornadoes involve rising warm air—updrafts—from the strongest type of thunderstorm—supercells—to help turn horizontally rotating tunnels of air into vertical columns. In non-supercell tornadoes, which are generally weaker as a result of forming within less energetic systems, vertical rotation is present from the start near ground level.

Jet fuel is expensive—which is one reason why it's tough to make an airline profitable

Jet fuel is typically a commercial airline's second-largest expense, second only to labor. Oil prices can be volatile—there have been recent significant increases in jet fuel prices given the 2026 Iran conflict, for instance.

Airbus is a rare European industrial success story that overtook a rival American firm

After World War II, the US dominated aviation, particularly Boeing. To compete, Europe's major industrial nations pooled resources to form Airbus, a customer-centric airplane manufacturer. Its A320 family of planes became the most popular in airliner history, leading to profitability in the 1990s. Amid Boeing's major hurdles in recent years, Airbus remains the industry leader.

Orville and Wilbur argued over everything, likely accelerating their progress

The two never married, and focused solely on their goal of achieving flight. While both were socially reserved, they were passionate about their project, regularly debating—even shouting—over the details of propellers, engines, wings and more. This video explores how their culture of open argument likely fueled their discoveries.

The Wrights battled inventor Glenn Curtiss for market dominance, ultimately losing

Their 1903 flights were met with skepticism, and the pair were hesitant to conduct public demonstrations. By 1908, Curtiss developed his own airplane, successfully flying a mile in front of judges and winning the nation’s first pilot license. The Wrights sued for patent infringement, sparking a business war.