Now, software to help your paper plane fly better

Researchers have developed a computer software that helps create more aerodynamic designs to ensure your paper plane flies better.
Nobuyuki Umetani at the University of Tokyo, Japan, working with computer-aided-design specialist Autodesk, has developed the software that injects sensible aerodynamic principles into any paper plane idea.
Once the plane has been sketched on the computer, the software analyses and tweaks it so that the plane's centre of gravity is in the right place.
It also optimises the wing and tail surface areas to give the plane adequate lift, 'New Scientist' reported.
To develop the physics model at the heart of the programme, Umetani and his colleagues did exhaustive tests on multiple plane designs and trained AI software on video of failed and successful flights, working out which wing shapes work best for each type of design.

The team will present the work at the annual computer graphics conference, SIGGRAPH, in Vancouver, Canada.