Let’s Go Fly a Kite!

There’s something almost spiritual about flying a kite. As a kid, there was nothing I liked better than going to the coast and flying my Barnstormer Stunt Kite — hovering it close to the ground and then pulling back on one line and letting it rip and ripple its way to its highest point. It gave me an incredible sense of freedom and was remarkably soothing.

When I read years later that Richard Feynman — the physicist, raconteur and bongo player supremo — had also enjoyed kite flying it was another reason to admire him. Only the best people enjoy kite flying! And that was all that ever needed to be said on the subject.

Reading through my science feeds earlier today, however, I found yet another reason to recommend this pastime. It could well be the answer to all our energy problems. (Well, some of them, at least.)

“High-flying kites tethered to generators could supply as much as 100 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 100,000 homes, according to researchers from the Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands.”