Full speed ahead with a headwind

They say that the economy is facing a strong head wind. But it's still working. No surprise for a physicist. A sailing ship can still move against the wind even if many people do not believe that it is possible, that the ship would have to go into reverse.

But faith is not a concept in physics, as the Science Busters - Univ.-Prof. Dr. Heinz Oberhummer , Univ.-Lecturer Mag. Werner Gruber and cabaret artist Martin Puntigam - know only too well.
"It is very easy to separate windward and leeward," explains Prof. Heinz Oberhummer. Windward – into the wind, leeward – away from the wind.

But there is also windward and leeward in space for a sun sail, even though there is no wind at all in the vacuum of space. Prof. Oberhummer knows why: 

When sailing against the wind, what matters is the shape of the sail. Mag. Werner Gruber explains the angle that you use to sail against the wind and why you can always reach America with a triangular sail but not with a rectangular one. The Bernoulli Effect is very easy to understand - with a sheet of paper and a little puff of breath. 

The clip (currently only available in German)