How to Sleep Better on a Plane

by Neil Woodburn on

To sleep, perchance to dream away your entire flight.

The very best flights are those which are spent entirely asleep.

Unfortunately, it is often very difficult to fall asleep while stuffed into a small seat, sitting upright. There are ways, however, to increase your chance of Zzzzs. Some of them are no-brainers, such as abstaining from caffeine during the flight. Duh! Others are less obvious.

Make Flying a Drowsing Success is a wonderfully helpful Los Angeles Times article by Logan Kugler, which spells out the best recipe for sleeping at 35,000 feet. Most of the suggestions I’ve heard before but there were a couple of new ones which I found very interesting. For example, Kugler recommends eating a banana which is packed full of melatonin, serotonin, and magnesium–apparently all good things to help you sleep.

The most interesting tip I learned, however, is about the small window of time when sleep will come most easily. Apparently during takeoff the cabin experiences increased G-forces and decreased oxygen levels, giving your body a one-two punch of sleepiness. I’ve dozed off many times during this short window and just assumed I was tired from the trek to the airport. Now I know there is a scientific reason for doing so, you can bet I’m going to take advantage of this window every time I get on a plane now. Thanks Kugler!

Hitchhiking Microorganisms and Increased Air Travel leads to Very Bad Things

by Neil Woodburn on

It’s a horrible feeling when doing something you love causes something bad to happen.

Although hardly news, researchers at Oxford University have just released a sobering report detailing how increased air travel leads to an increased spread of disease and an increased risk to biodiversity.

Air travel has risen 8% a year in the last three years, according to the report, and as a result, an alarming number of micro-organisms and insects are hitchhiking around the globe. This means that organisms from the other side of the world can suddenly sprout in a new environment where, unchecked by natural predators, they can spread disease or wipe out endemic species.

Oxford researchers pinpointed a number of international routes, various climactic conditions and certain times of the year that pose the greatest risk. Europe, for example, is most vulnerable in January from flights originating in China and Japan.

So be careful the next time you travel; that microorganism hitching a ride in your lower intestine may just bring about the next biblical plague or the downfall of western civilization.

“Freedom” Concept for Airplane Seating is Awkward

by Justin Glow on

The title pretty much says it all. But this is just a concept, so don’t freak out yet. The idea behind this bizarre design is that extra room can be added by reversing the middle seat which “enables their shoulders to overlap, minimising the width of an armrest between each occupant.” Sounds um, comfortable? I’m not sure what it is exactly; Maybe the fact that you’re not quite facing someone else, but you’re still at this weird angle? Or maybe the middle “row” seems like it would induce claustrophobia, even for those not typically susceptible to such maladies.

Either way, I don’t like it. It smells of airline industry folks doing anything they can to squeeze more people onto a flight. That said, I’m all for it if it makes my ticket any cheaper. Via Gizmodo.

Screensaver of Real Time Global Flights

by Neil Woodburn on

Perhaps the coolest screensaver ever!

The Star Alliance Screensaver is a map of the world that features all of the Star Alliance flights currently in the air. The Star Alliance is a network of major carriers including United, Air Canada, Lufthansa, and about 14 others.

At any given time there might be upwards of 1500 flights crisscrossing the globe. The Star Alliance Screensaver features real-time updates of all of its carriers in the air. Each plane is represented by a blinking dot, color coded by airline.

A real time shot isn’t the most interesting function, however. The screensaver can be adjusted to show “accelerated mode,” a sped-up version of the flights over the last 24 hours, updating at 10 minute intervals every 2 seconds. In this manner, you can watch individual flights make their way around the world as the sun moves.

I was in a meeting the other day when this screensaver popped up on a terminal and that was it for me. I sat mesmerized staring at all the planes going to places so very far away. It was also fascinating to check out the patterns. As daylight approaches Europe, international flights begin encroaching on it from all angles. The flights subside as the day goes on and then a whole rash of outbound flights begin heading away as night approaches, like a storm of insects. Very Cool!

Dead Man Flying

by Erik Olsen on

Seems like people are dying all over the place on airplanes these days. I was checking to see whether someone else had posted about this story and so entered the word “corpse” into our search box. Lo and what do you know, there were a whole bunch of stories about people who have died on planes and lived to tell about it. Or, I mean, well, you get what I mean.

So take this latest example of a guy, an unfortunate soul named Taisuke Matsuo , who apparently had a fatal heart attack after he went to the restroom during an American Airlines flight from Tokyo to Chicago. He was on his way home to Indianapolis. But no one during the flight knew Mr. Matsuo had passed. He was discovered only after the flight crew disembarked and the jet was taken to another gate for cleaning. Then some workers found him slumped over in the bathroom. Needless to say he was not wearing his seat belt.

In the immortal words of the late great Kurt Vonnegut: And so it goes.