Uplifting structures: the denticles are inspired by the shortfin mako shark. (Courtesy: James Weaver/Harvard University) A shark skin-inspired design can dramatically improve the lift of an aerofoil, ...

Even in 1800, it was understood—by at least one person, a certain George Cayley—that two forces, weight and drag, were antagonistic to flight and that there must be two corresponding forces to ...

On today’s episode of “For Science!” we explore the concepts of Thrust, Lift, and Drag by conducting the ring airplane experiment. Cut the paper into 1 inch strips. Using two strips, tape them ...

While the engineering behind modern aircraft is incredibly complicated, the basic concepts behind getting airborne is simpler than you might think. “So the fundamentals, the physics of flight, deal ...

Without the aerodynamic forces of lift and drag, aircraft would be unable to fly, wind turbines would not spin, and countless other machines that we depend on every day would not work. What, exactly, ...

Airplane flight is one of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century. The invention of the airplane allows people to travel from one side of the planet to the other in less ...

Who hasn't looked at an 800,000-pound passenger jet soaring through the sky and wondered how it could possibly stay up there? Ten-year-old Lucas took a break from munching his nachos at Schaumburg's ...

Whirligig beetles, the world's fastest-swimming insect, achieve surprising speeds by employing a strategy shared by fast-swimming marine mammals and waterfowl, according to a new study that rewrites ...