Science Capsules

The textbook says planes fly because air moves faster over the curved top of a wing, but that explains only part of the lift. These explanations cover how wings turn air downward by Newton's third law, why viscosity matters, and where Bernoulli's shortcut falls short. You can build the understanding of flight that actually holds up.

The claim that the Great Wall is visible from orbit survives in textbooks and trivia nights despite astronauts saying otherwise. The arguments here approach the myth from different angles: the physics of human eyesight, firsthand astronaut testimony, the role of cameras and optical aids, and why comfortable falsehoods outlive clear corrections. It becomes a lesson in how to test what everyone knows.