DailyDirt: Paper Airplane Tricks

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Paper airplanes have advanced quite a bit -- with added motors and smartphone controls or fancy new folding techniques that can be found all over the internet. Paper airplanes can become an incredibly complex hobby if you really have the motivation to take them to the next level. If you have the free time, try out some of these paper airplane projects.

• A paper airplane has flown 82 miles, launched from a helium balloon at a altitude of over 96,000 feet. We previously noted a paper airplane launched from 89,000 feet in 2010. [url]
• If you want to make a paper airplane fly "forever" indoors, you need a chair and a hair dryer and the patience to throw a paper airplane dozens of times until you get it just right. This video demonstrates the phenomenon of dynamic soaring which is used by birds and glider pilots to gain some energy under the right conditions. [url]
• There's a robot made from Lego that folds and "throws" a paper airplane. This is cool, but it might be cooler to see a robot arm try to beat the human throwing record of a paper airplane (226 feet, 10 inches). [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: dynamic soaring, helium balloon, lego, origami, paper airplanes, paper planes, record, robot, space
Companies: lego

DailyDirt: Kids Do The Darndest Things

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Helium balloon rides to the edge of space seem to be getting more popular these days. Anyone can do it, so a bunch of kids are. It's the new Mentos-and-Diet-Coke thing to do. Still, it's fun, so here are few interesting "space" projects from kids.

• A Peep is taking a ride on a weather balloon to the edge of space -- a somewhat new form or Peep torture from a 9yo boy. Insert a pun here about how there's no sound in a vacuum -- hence no peeps in space. [url]
• High school students from around Las Vegas have documented their own helium-filled-balloon-to-space project -- which cost them about $75. Pretty soon, kids are going to need a license to buy helium balloons. [url]
• Some New Jersey high school kids who sent up their own weather balloon also got accepted to fly onboard a NASA Microgravity aircraft to teach them about helium balloon buoyancy in other gravity environments. Lucky! [/Napoleon Dynamite voice] [url]
• The NASA Florida Space Grant Consortium has sponsored several student experiments to fly aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Endeavour gets to a bit higher altitude than a helium balloon.... [url]
• To discover other interesting crafty projects, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: helium balloon, space, space shuttle endeavour
Companies: nasa, peep