Spectacular visualization of flight patterns

If you haven't seen by now...i'm a sucker for images showing complex patterns. I found a fantastic website that is part data visualization and part art. The author/artist of this project, Aaron Koblin, compiled flight pattern data from the FAA for the United States (and most of North America) and created stunning images and animations. The animations are really the coolest part of this...to see our flight transportation system like this is jaw-dropping. It looks like the flurry of activity you see on an ant hill...or something.

Here are a few of the images....check out the site for more.


The look and feel of the work reminds of the Cabspotting project that I posted about several months ago.

Cabspotting

The Exploratorium is a science museum in San Francisco that aims to mix science with culture and art. One of their sponsored projects, shown in the image above and called Cabspotting, tracks the movements of taxi cabs around the city. It creates an ever-changing map revealing some interesting cultural and social trends. Plus, I think it just looks cool.