Plasma wings could change the way airplanes are designed and flown

Re:Plasma wings could change the way airplanes are designed ... by fmp on Friday August 26, 2016 @04:34PM (#12369122)

>A scaled-down gale blows over a flat plate set inside the tabletop wind tunnel. Despite the low lighting and hazy Plexiglas view portals, we can clearly see the frenzied fluttering of streamer ribbons, called telltales, in the field of little wind vanes that carpets the exposed test surface inside.

I'm really bothered by this style of journalism which feels the need to start off every story with an in media res narrative instead of just telling you the most important points and working its way down like a traditional newspaper article should.

I don't care about the scene at the wind tunnel you visited while researching this story. Tell me about the plasma wings.

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Re:Plasma wings could change the way airplanes are designed ... by drjesusphd on Friday August 26, 2016 @04:54PM (#12369230)

I see this more and more and also find it tiresome. I stop reading and go straight to the HN comments. At least then I'll more quickly learn what the damn article is about.

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Re:Plasma wings could change the way airplanes are designed ... by b_emery on Friday August 26, 2016 @05:01PM (#12369271)

Indeed. There is a reason for the inverted pyramid: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_pyramid

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Re:Plasma wings could change the way airplanes are designed ... by jombiezebus on Friday August 26, 2016 @04:53PM (#12369228)

Agreed. This style is called "Long-form journalism" for anyone not already familiar with the term.

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Re:Plasma wings could change the way airplanes are designed ... by effingwewt on Friday August 26, 2016 @07:05PM (#12369931)

I took Journalism as an elective and fell in love. I use knowledge gained many times a day, and have much deeper insight into what I consume. I highly recommend anyone who hasn't do yourself the favor of taking a Journalism class. I felt like Neo- I could see the code of the matrix and was no longer fooled by all the fake stuff surrounding me.

edit- I could also form a deeper appreciation for the truly amazing Journalists out there. Diamonds in the rough.

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Re:Plasma wings could change the way airplanes are designed ... by hexane360 on Sunday August 28, 2016 @12:04AM (#12375256)

It seems journalists mostly do this to mask how few facts they have on the subject. https://lostbetweentheletters.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/ba...

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Re:Plasma wings could change the way airplanes are designed ... by snowwrestler on Tuesday August 30, 2016 @03:06PM (#12392938)

You are very interested in the subject, so this seems unnecessary.

Most people are not, and need to be hooked. That's what starting a story like this is intended to do. It's the same reason that so many movies and TV shows start with an action scene and then circle back to start the exposition.

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