Air-Traffic Control Strips

• Are 1.5 x 6.5-inch strips of paper used to record the types, radar ID numbers, speeds, altitudes, destinations, and other information of up to 25 planes simultaneously
  
• Are governed by the planning controller, who is responsible for radar; his/her partner annotates the data about incoming traffic on the strips
  
• Aid situation awareness; the strips are used as cognitive clues to keep clear the mental picture of where planes will be; the controller keeps strips out of the partner’s view until partner needs it, or if there’s an urgent problem

Gladwell, Malcolm. “The Social Life of Paper.” The New Yorker 78.5 (2002): 92.