A bird in laser goggles has helped scientists discover a new phenomenon in the physics of flight.
Swirling vortices appear in the flow of air that follows a bird's wingbeat. But for slowly flying birds, these vortices were unexpectedly short-lived, researchers from Stanford University report December 6 in Bioinspiration and Biomimetics. The results could help scientists better understand how animals fly, and could be important for designing flying robots ( SN: 2/7/15, p. 18 ).
To study the complex air currents produced by birds' flapping wings, the researchers trained a Pacific parrotlet, a small species of parrot, to fly through laser light — with the appropriate eye protection, of course. Study coauthor Eric Gutierrez, who recently graduated from Stanford, built tiny, 3-D‒printed laser goggles for the bird, named Obi.
The source paper is available as well.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 07 2016, @10:28AM
Birds with laser (protective) googles. Robots jumping off walls.
Now that's what I call 'News for Nerds', well done SoylentNews!