One of the things that always stops me in my tracks is when I’m working and I see a plane flying overhead.
Despite spending an inordinate amount of time at airports, there is still something magical about seeing that white plume of smoke rising ever higher in the sky.
I wonder where it’s going. I wonder who are the passengers. I wonder how excited the people going on holiday are feeling.
It’s a little moment where regardless of what I’m doing, I sense a tinge of jealously.
Below is a video that shows how many of these journeys take place every day.
The video is a 24-hour observation of all of the large aircraft flights in the world, condensed down to just over a minute.
What a beehive of activity …
I love how you can see all the planes leave the US and swarm towards Europe before heading back again.
I love how there seems to be more planes leaving Sydney than arriving and more planes arriving in South Africa than going.
I love how you can tell when the airports are open and when they are closed.
I love seeing how bloody Asia seems to be in a constant state of activity and how Singapore seems to be Asia’s key stopover hub.
I love watching the flights between Oz and NZ … it’s as if they’re in battle of who can get rid of the most people.
I love how you can tell it was recorded when it was summer in the Northern hemisphere by the sun’s footprint over the planet. [it didn’t quite set in the extreme north and it didn’t quite rise in the extreme south]
I love how you can see how Earth works.
If we open our eyes enough, we can see there’s real beauty in information, not to mention the fact we can make information, beautiful.
