Magazine content is available exclusively for TIME subscribers.Science: How Far Can You See?
Pan American clipper pilots have found that most of their passengers have surprisingly hazy notions of how far they can see in the air. One passenger, 20,000 feet above Brazil, insisted that she could see the coast of Africa, 1,822 miles away. To set such passengers straight (and help military pilots) Pan Am's clipper captains have worked up a handy "vision range" table.
At sea level the curvature of the earth limits the range of vision to 2.9 miles. The formula for determining how many miles an individual can see at higher levels is the square root of his altitude times...
Email, Password or Region is incorrect
A required form parameter was missing.
The System is currently down. Please try again in a few minutes.
Email Address is invalid
Password is blank
Most Popular »
- JC Penney and Ellen, Lowe's and All-American Muslim: A Tale of Two Bigotries
- Four Ways the U.S. Could End Up at War with Iran Before the Election*
- The Art of Nazi Hunting: How Israel's Mossad Found Adolf Eichmann
- Top 10 Celebrity Restaurants
- Study: Zapping the Brain Boosts Memory
- College Endowments: Why Even Harvard Isn't As Rich As You Think
- Bradying: The Poor Man's Tebowing
- Pentagon Rules 'Shift' on Women in Combat
- Twimmolation Alert: Roland Martin Gets His Ascot in Hot Water at CNN
- House Pulls the Plug. Too Soon or Too Late?
- The Upside Of Being An Introvert (And Why Extroverts Are Overrated)
- The Brain: How The Brain Rewires Itself
- Egypt's NGO Crisis: How Will U.S. Aid Play in the Controversy?
- Friends With Benefits
- Why Is Your Boss Moving to Brazil?
- New York City: 10 Things to Do
- Seoul Searching
- Pentagon Rules 'Shift' on Women in Combat
- Haiti Papers Over the Past: The Rebranding of 'Baby Doc' Duvalier
- In Singapore, Finding Peace Among the Pain of Thaipusam
More News from Our Partners
Top Stories on TIME.com
Quotes of the Day »
