'This vs That' webseries investigates mysteries and science (VIDEOS)

By April MacIntyre Aug 31, 2011, 19:08 GMT

Questions such as "Which flotation device is more likely to save your life in the event of a plane crash? The seat cushion or the life vest?"

New webseries "This vs That" will use science to reveal the answers to life's most vexing mysteries.

Questions such as "Which flotation device is more likely to save your life in the event of a plane crash? The seat cushion or the life vest?"

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First up for 'This vs That': What the airlines don't want you to know!

The most common way of boarding passenger planes is among the least efficient, tests have shown.  The current most common boarding method clogs the aisles and rows

Jon Hotchkiss, a television producer making a webseries called "This vs That," pondered airplane boarding efficiency and came across Dr. Jason Steffen's work.

Steffen's model results in a 40% gain in efficiency.

The new approach is named after Dr. Steffen, an astrophysicist at Fermi National Laboratory in Illinois.

Dr Steffen was inspired to do the research after suffering in a long boarding queue. His method of alternating rows in the window-middle-aisle strategy nearly doubles boarding speed.

He carried out a number of computer simulations to determine a better method than the typical "rear of the plane forwards" approach, publishing the results in the Journal of Air Transport Management.

Several authors had already proposed an order in which those seated in window seats boarded first, followed by middle seats and then aisle seats - dubbed the Wilma method. But Dr. Steffen's best results suggested a variant of this.

To avoid a situation in which passengers are struggling to use the same physical space at the same time, Steffen suggested boarding in alternate rows, window seats first, progressing from the rear forward: seats 12A, for example, followed by 10A, 8A and so on, then returning for 9A, 7A, 5A and so on, and then filling the middle and aisle seats in the same way.

Dr. Steffen tested his idea using a mock-up of a 757 plane in Hollywood and 72 carry-on toting volunteers.

The test included "block" boarding in groups of rows from back to front, one by one from back to front, the "Wilma method", the Steffen method, and completely random boarding.

In all cases, parent-child pairs were permitted to board first.

The best result was from Steffen's idea of boarding alternating rows at the same time, starting with the window seats. The worst was the block approach, followed by the strict back-to-front approach. The Steffen method took just over half that time.

The secret, he says, is that it leaves passengers elbow room to stow their luggage at the same time.

Steffen published his predictions three years ago, but the airlines have not heeded his research.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7YINYf9eZk&feature=player_embedded