Physics in the Mile High City

In a few weeks, 14,000 physicists will convene for the 2026 APS Global Physics Summit in Denver, Colorado, a gateway to the Rocky Mountains and a city renowned for its outdoorsy culture.

Thanks to Denver’s 5,280-foot elevation and unique geography, the Mile High City is also rich fodder for science trivia. Before you pack your bags, brush up on these six science facts about the host of this year’s meeting.

The science starts as soon as you land.

If you’re flying into Denver International Airport, your plane will touch down on one of six runways, all of which are over 12,000 feet long. The longest extends more than three miles and is the longest runway at a public airport in North America.

These extra-long runways are essential for taking off in hot, high locations like Denver because, at higher altitudes, the air is less dense. Less dense air means there is less force exerted against the wing, which results in less lift. To take off at higher altitudes, airplanes need to travel faster, which the added runway length helps them achieve.

Thinner air also impacts the performance of jet engines. Less dense air has less oxygen — a key ingredient, along with fuel and ignition, for engines to produce power. And because jet engines work by compressing air and shooting it backwards at high speeds, less dense air means that the engines generate less power.

All these problems are exacerbated during the summer, when warmer temperatures reduce the air density even further.

After landing, you can peruse some of the airport’s artistic offerings — including “Blucifer,” the infamous, red-eyed horse statue — and learn more about the conspiracy theories it has fueled.

Going for a jog? You might feel winded.

Less oxygen at higher altitudes can make even an aerobically fit person feel like they can’t catch their breath, so if you plan on working out during the meeting, do so safely.

The impacts of this reduction in oxygen were apparent at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, which sits at 7,350 feet in elevation. During these games, athletes participating in endurance events like long- and middle-distance running, swimming, and cycling all saw a major decrease in their performance.

This observation led coaches to wonder whether regularly training at high elevations could increase an athlete’s aerobic capacity — one of the reasons why the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic team has a training facility in nearby Colorado Springs. Studies have found that high-altitude training can increase an individual’s maximal oxygen intake, or VO2 max, and tolerance of lactic acid in muscles, which causes fatigue.

But if you’re golfing, you might hit the ball farther than ever.

The same physics that leaves unacclimated runners winded at high altitudes gives other athletes a boost. Back at the 1968 Olympics, athletes in sports like jumping, throwing, and weightlifting experienced a high-altitude advantage thanks to a reduction in drag.

In Denver, the atmospheric pressure and air density is about 20% less than it is at sea level. Fewer gas molecules mean less air resistance, which allows objects (or people) to fly farther than they can at lower elevations.

Punters can send a football around five yards farther in Denver than their best efforts at sea-level stadiums. For batters, a fly ball can fly around 5% farther. Golfers experience a similar boost in their driving distance, but since the thinner air imparts less force against the ball, there’s also less spin, making it much more difficult to execute an effective slice or hook.

If you prefer to spend your free time doing something less strenuous — like visiting one of the city’s many craft breweries — you might be happy to hear that higher altitudes do not actually increase alcohol’s potency. Alcohol can still exacerbate the symptoms of altitude sickness, though, so be sure to imbibe carefully.

It’s one of the sunniest cities in the country.

Denverites enjoy around 250 days of sunshine per year. This puts it ahead of several recent March and April meeting locations, including Chicago, Boston, Minneapolis, Baltimore, New York City, and Columbus. Even the Sun Belt city of Atlanta — the host for the 2027 APS Global Physics Summit — has fewer sunny days than Denver.

Even though the summit is happening in mid-March, you might need to pack some sunscreen. While Earth’s atmosphere absorbs ultraviolet light from the sun, when the air is thinner, there is less atmosphere to block UV rays, so more UV radiation reaches the ground. For every 1,000 feet in elevation gained, UV radiation increases by around 5%. This means that in Denver, there’s nearly 30% more UV rays than a sea level city at the same latitude.

The region has a history rich in one-of-a-kind minerals and materials.

In the late 1850s, news of gold along the South Platte River spurred the Colorado gold rush, where hundreds of thousands of “fifty-niners” flocked to the region in the hopes of striking it rich. Denver was one of the settlements that sprung up to support this massive population influx and was named the permanent capital a few years after the state was admitted to the Union.

So far, miners have dug up around 45 million troy ounces, a measurement system for precious metals and gems, of gold from across the state. Colorado is currently home to one operational gold mine that produces about 325,000 troy ounces per year, making it the second-ranked gold-producing state in the country after Nevada.

Colorado’s mining legacy is reflected in the imagery of its state emblems and in designs found throughout the capitol building. After taking in the capital’s granite facade and golden dome, visitors might notice a rose-colored stone across the interior wainscoting. Known as Colorado Rose Onyx, it’s a type of limestone that gets its color from iron oxide. So far, the quarry where the stone was discovered remains its only known source — and the construction of the capital building depleted the world’s entire supply.

It’s also home to numerous dinosaur fossils — including one recently discovered in the parking lot of a science museum.

Denver has some of the most recorded dinosaur fossils of any metropolitan area, thanks to the region’s unique geology. During the formation of the Rocky Mountains, erosion carried sediments down into the lower-lying Denver Basin. These sediments preserved the remains of plants, dinosaurs, and other vertebrates that lived in the region around 66 million years ago, right around the time of a mass extinction event attributed to an asteroid collision.

Denver’s first major dinosaur discovery was in 1887, when a pair of Triceratops horns were found near the city and initially mistaken for the remains of a bison. Other notable discoveries include the Thornton Torosaurus, the most complete specimen of its species ever found, and a Tyrannosaurus rex found under an apartment building — the only T. rex with a street address.

Recently, a vertebra from a 67-million-year-old plant-eating dinosaur was discovered in the parking lot of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science during a geological drilling project.

To learn more about the region’s paleontology, you can stop by the Denver Museum of Nature and Science — and if you arrive early, you can attend Squishy Science Sunday, our annual family-friendly outreach event taking place at the museum.