Awesome Wind

Wind tunnels are used in automotive, aerospace, and other industries to test a vehicle’s aerodynamic properties. Thanks to Funtech Lab’s Windsible, you’ll soon be able to test the aerodynamics of your Hot Wheels and other toys. The illuminated desktop wind tunnel blasts air and smoke over your miniatures and will come in 1:64, 1:24, and 1:18 scale versions.

If you put a powerful fan on a boat and blew it at its sail, would the boat move? Engineer Mark Rober channels Mr. Wizard with a series of experiments and easy-to-understand explanations of this and six other perplexing physics questions. He also debunks a viral video along the way.

Luke from Instrument Maniac bests his 91 instrument performance, with 20 additional ways to play music. This, the snippets connect into a single song rather than just playing the same lick repeatedly. For a real challenge, try naming as many instruments as you can with your eyes closed.

After these Christmas decorations were set up in London, England, strong winds took hold of some of the giant metallic baubles decorating Tottenham Court Road, and the balls went rolling down the street, resulting in a wonderfully surreal scene. We half expected the music from Katamari Damacy to start playing.

Those fancy Dyson fans are called “bladeless,” but they really just hide their fan blades in the base. Integza wanted to see if it would be possible to build a fan that actually has no blades. His theory was that he could harness and direct the ionic wind created by high-voltage electricity.

We’ve all seen those giant windmills dotting the landscape. Now, you can carry a wind-powered generator to capture energy wherever the winds take you. The Shine Turbine weighs just 3 pounds, sets up in 2 minutes, and can produce up to 40 watts of power. It works in winds from 8 to 28 mph and has a 12000 mAh internal battery.

A sailboat sailing straight downwind can only match the speed of the wind and never exceed it. But is it possible that a vehicle powered by wind could defy this limitation of physics? Derek from Veritasium risked life and limb to test just that, as he took a ride in an experimental three-wheeler called Blackbird.

Capturing the power of the wind and turning it into electricity has proven to be a key component in reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. But wind generators require massive fans and typically must be placed in less populous areas. Matt Ferrell explores technology currently in development that could harness the wind’s energy without any moving parts.

The Slow Mo Guys managed to score some time inside of a full-scale wind tunnel to see how their bodies and everyday objects would behave in gusts up to 80 mph. Along the way, they turn a condom into a wind sock. Learn more about aerodynamics in part two.

If you thought that rain had a teardrop shape as it fell, you’d be totally wrong. With the help of a vertical wind tunnel, It’s Okay to Be Smart shows us what these droplets of water look like as they head towards Earth, while teaching us about surface tension and air resistance.

David Bowen’s unique art installation captures data from a plant stalk blowing the wind, then echoes its movements onto 126 individual stalks placed indoors. Each indoor stalk moves in concert with its outdoor inspiration thanks to accelerometer tracking and servo motors.

Cromarty, Scotland offers pleasant breezes perfect for flying kites. However, the winds were a little stronger than usual the day this guy decided to fly his kite, and he was literally swept him off his feet.

The Buoyant Air Turbine or BAT from Altaeros Energies is made of a helium-filled, inflatable shell that ascends to high altitudes where it harnesses the energy of stronger, more consistent winds to provide power to remote areas and microgrids.