One of the biggest things we never see is all around us — the air. We know it’s there but we don’t think about it much unless it smells wonderful (like dinner) or smells terrible (like when a farmer is spreading manure on his fields).
While air usually looks clear it is much more than thin nothingness. It supplies oxygen for billions of people and for even more animals. It pushes windmills, holds up birds and even holds up airplanes. Air is thick!
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While not a stunt to repeat, this guy is being kept upright by a very strong updraft. If the wind dies down then he probably will too. |
If air wasn’t thick then how would it ever hold up something as heavy as this vulture, or as small as a sparrow. Sparrows have tiny wings but somehow they can fly too! |
Many people get their first awareness of how thick air is on a windy day. Try walking or especially riding a bicycle against the wind and you know there is real substance to that clear stuff! It will push you and wear you out. You aren’t burning calories pushing against nothing!
Since the 1980s cars have been significantly redesigned to make them aerodynamic, because you want that thick air to flow around you rather than your engine gulping gas trying to push a square but stylish surface against all that air.
Air is thick, and like many of the really big things in the world air is worthy of respect. Just because we can’t see it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take good care of it. We really don’t want the stuff we breathe all day to turn on us.
