The engineers proposing massive airbags for airplanes

How do you survive a plane crash?

Almost 95% of plane crashes aren’t fatal. So what separates survivors from victims? One man’s story may hold the key, plus expert tips that could save your life.

Aviation expert breaks down the safest seat on an airplane

The bottom line is air travel is very safe—much safer than road travel. But you can always up your chances. So, here's one expert's take on the safest seat on an airplane.

A nightmarish vision for airplane seating

Airplane seat designer Alejandro Núñez Vicente reckons his double-decker airplane seat could revolutionize budget air travel. CNN went to the 2022 Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg to try it out.

Why crash test dummies cost a million dollars

Crash test dummies are crucial in the fight to protect car passengers from potentially catastrophic crashes. So how are they made? And why are they so expensive? This 8-minute video breaks down the high-tech products—which can cost over $1 million...

How black boxes made flying safe

Black boxes—which are actually orange—were not universally present in airplanes until roughly 1967, a process which grew out of frustration over frequent, unexplained crashes in the industry's first few decades. This piece tells the origins of...

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.

Why airships are making a comeback as a cheap, fast transport solution

Airships, including blimps, have had a pretty bad reputation since the tragic incendiary crash of the Hindenburg in New Jersey in 1937. But an intense competition is ongoing between airship manufacturers looking to develop the trucks of the sky: a...

Today's cars use turbocharged hybrid engines and AI-assisted technologies

In addition to enhanced speed, serious accidents and technological advances have led to major innovations, leading to more aerodynamic and more protective cars.

On average, every in-service airplane is struck by lightning once a year

The average strikes per surface area per year on Earth suggest that aircraft should only be struck once every 1,000 years, based on their size, but proximity to storm clouds' high electrical fields increases strike rates. Aircraft are designed as continuous conductive shells, causing electricity to flow along their exterior and preventing internal damage.

School buses are the safest vehicles on the road

Even without seat belts or airbags, the big yellow school bus transporting millions of students to school each day remains the safest vehicle on the road. A long history of tragic lessons led to today's highly tested school bus design, including the padded compartments created by school bus seats, multiple emergency exits, cross-view mirrors, and more.

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.

How a panel blew off a Boeing plane in mid-air

As Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 climbed just over 16,000 feet into the sky, a refrigerator-sized panel was ripped from its side, forcing it to land. Few of the 171 passengers were injured. This infographic explains how the panel tore from the body of the Boeing 737 MAX 9 plane, which had only been in service for eight weeks.

'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.

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.

The incredibly advanced engineering of the B-2 Bomber

B-2 Bombers are the world's most expensive plane, coming in at a cost of $2B per aircraft. There are roughly 20 in the world, all in use by the United States Air Force. They are known for their single-wing profile, allowing for stealth and the ability to transport some of the world's largest bombs.

Scientists are learning to guide your dreams using sound and touch

Researchers are using a technique called "targeted dream incubation"—where stimuli like sounds or vibrations are introduced as you drift off—to influence dream content and potentially improve creativity, memory consolidation, and PTSD treatment. With the same mechanism, companies could theoretically target sleeping consumers with brand suggestions while they're unaware and neurologically susceptible, or assist in reducing nightmares.

The impact of gravitational force on our bodies surprised early coaster riders and engineers

There is only a certain amount of gravitational force that the body can handle before dealing with consequences like short-term vision loss or unconsciousness. Increased scientific understanding has largely reduced these impacts, with engineers combining periods of intense pressure with periods of relief.

Power lines are dotted with large, brightly colored balls to improve the visibility of these thin wires to helicopters and small planes and help prevent potential crashes.

Engineers warned Challenger could fail, but were overruled

Engineer Bob Ebeling and four of his colleagues presented data to NASA officials and managers at NASA contractor Morton Thiokol the night before the launch about how cold temperatures could cause O-ring failure. Ebeling claims to have told his wife then that, "[Challenger is] going to blow up."

Scientists have proposed using lasers to push space trash into Earth's atmosphere

Such projects would allow most debris to burn up and no longer pose a risk to active satellites, telescopes, and astronauts on space stations. Enacting these plans would require substantial investments from private and governmental space agencies and overcoming international laws that prevent the removal of another country's space equipment.

Why train derailments happen, 101

In 2021 alone, there were over 1,000 reported derailments in the US—and no amount of maneuvering will reduce those numbers to zero. This 101 explains the causes of train derailments and how safety protocols look to limit them each year.

A NASA engineer came up with the idea for the air-cushioned Nike Air shoes

Frank Rudy came to Nike with the idea of using air capsules in the soles of running shoes to provide better cushioning. The first shoe with this technology, the Tailwind, came out in 1979.

Brain death is a uniquely modern problem stemming from modern ventilators

Patients who would have once died from devastating brain injury can now live on a ventilator for a long period of time, creating ethical, medical, and legal dilemmas.

Mosquitoes are the world's deadliest animal—gene drives could kill them

Historically, killing all disease-carrying mosquitoes has not seemed practical and there are concerns about disrupting food webs. Gene editing to render female mosquitoes infertile creates the theoretical possibility of wiping out disease-carrying species, but concerns remain about effectively limiting this engineered trait to target species.

Why Japan builds airports on water

Some of Japan's roughly 100 airports are built on water—that is, engineers have created new land in bodies of water specifically to construct airports. This six-minute video explains why the country is doing so despite the higher cost of such airports.

In 1984, Operation Smash Hit intentionally crashed a 239-ton train into a nuclear waste canister at 100 miles per hour to prove the canister's safety, which remained completely intact and lost just 0.29 of its 100 pounds of pressure.

How Anthropic's frontier red team assesses the dangers of its AI tools

The team of researchers deliberately attempts to breach the safeguards in Claude to determine whether the large language model can be used to commit cyberattacks, develop biological weapons, or enable other harmful behavior. Unlike many other red teams, Anthropic shares its findings and how it resolved them publicly to help build transparency and credibility.

After 25 people used virtual reality headsets to practice flying with virtual wings—flapping their arms—their visual cortex responded to the wings almost as if they were real arms, treating them as body parts.

Astronauts have repaired genetic damage in space using CRISPR—a molecular tool that can make precise changes to DNA and is used in single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses.

Animal phobias are likely the most common type of phobias, followed by an extreme fear of heights.

Discover the catastrophic consequences of a failure of the US electrical grid—something that is more likely than many Americans think.

Researchers believe the brain consolidates memories, processes emotions, and plans for the future during dream states

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.

The deadliest aspect of volcanic eruptions is often not lava, but pyroclastic flows—avalanches of ash, gas, and rock that can move more than half the speed of sound.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

See images of medical cases of firework injuries shared on this 'Instagram for doctors.' (Warning: Graphic content)

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

Experimental hantavirus vaccines and therapies, still under development, have long been funded by the US military.

Double world record holder Hunter Ewen helped conquer his fear of balloons, called globophobia, by training to win Guinness World Record titles for balloon inflation.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

While atoms are normally made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, exotic ones have been built with antimatter—alternate versions of normal matter that live for fractions of a second and are about a billion times as rare.

An investigation suggests a Scottish island became awash in forever chemicals via seafoam and seaspray—raising questions about what that means for the safety of other coastal areas.

When you complete a CAPTCHA on a website to prove you are human, you may be unknowingly training algorithms for self-driving cars, whose systems require training data to help identify crosswalks, bicycles, and other outdoor objects.

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

In 1945, Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí and legendary animator Walt Disney began collaborating on a short film that was not completed until 2003, years after both men had died.

To reduce wrinkles in clothing, research recommends gentle wash cycles with more water and tumble drying with smaller loads and longer times.