Solar-powered planes could lead to new alternatives for aerial surveillance and telecommunications. Aviation giants, telecommunication companies, venture investors, and the military are already spending millions of dollars developing the technology. These planes never need refueling and can stay in the air as long as the sun is shining. Advances in battery technology have finally made it feasible to power a solar plane through the night.

CrowdStrike's software update on July 19th caused a massive IT outage that impacted air traffic, particularly for major airlines like Delta, United, and American, which experienced widespread cancellations. While Southwest remained largely unaffected, Delta faced the most severe consequences due to its reliance on Windows systems and a lack of effective disaster recovery plans. Despite widespread disruptions, the impact of the outage was systematically analyzed using ADS-B Exchange data to compare takeoff rates before, during, and after the update, providing insights into the scale and duration of the disruption.