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Flight of the Dandelion

posted by chromas on Thursday October 18 2018, @07:20PM   Printer-friendly
from the people-don't-think-nature-be-like-it-is,-but-it-do dept.

takyon writes:

Dandelion seeds fly using 'impossible' method never before seen in nature

Dandelion seeds fly using a method that researchers thought couldn't work in the real world, according to a study published on 17 October in Nature.

When some animals, aeroplanes or seeds fly, rings of circulating air called vortices form in contact with their wings or wing-like surfaces. These vortices can help to maintain the forces that lift the animal, machine or seed into the air.

Researchers thought that an unattached vortex would be too unstable to persist in nature. Yet the light, puffy seeds of dandelions use vortices that materialize just above their surfaces and lift the seed into the air.

Also at the University of Edinburgh and BBC.

A separated vortex ring underlies the flight of the dandelion (DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0604-2) (DX)

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Friday October 19 2018, @01:04AM (10 children)

    by hemocyanin (186) on Friday October 19 2018, @01:04AM (#750739) Journal

    Dandelion seeds fly using 'impossible' method never before seen in nature

    Impossible? Never before seen in nature? The seeds obviously do it so it isn't impossible nor is has it never been seen -- it's been seen as long seeing beings and dandelions coexisted.

    Headlines like that seem rooted in some anti-science bias. Without reading TFA because of that gross headline, how about something like, "Dandelion seeds fly using previously un-contemplated method of generating lift."

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  
    Total Score:   2  

  • (Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Friday October 19 2018, @01:05AM (6 children)

    by hemocyanin (186) on Friday October 19 2018, @01:05AM (#750741) Journal

    I saw the unclosed blockquote right as I was pressing submit.

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by vux984 on Friday October 19 2018, @02:03AM (2 children)

      by vux984 (5045) on Friday October 19 2018, @02:03AM (#750761)

      Hey,

      -- meta question for the folks behind the site --

      What are the odds we could have a warning/error about unclosed tags when hitting submit?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 19 2018, @11:55AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 19 2018, @11:55AM (#750870)

        And this quote markup is not the biggest such problem around here, the real problem is strike, underline, italics and bold which end up modifying all subsequent comments in the thread. Looks pretty spectacular when it happens. :)

    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Pslytely Psycho on Friday October 19 2018, @03:35AM (2 children)

      by Pslytely Psycho (1218) on Friday October 19 2018, @03:35AM (#750784)

      No matter how carefully I proofread, if I missed something, it becomes instantly visible the moment I click 'submit.'

      --
      Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 19 2018, @01:48PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 19 2018, @01:48PM (#750912)

        This is why I really liked the 5 second delay on sending email that gmail had (at least for business, not sure if it was there for free accounts).

        You always see the error right after hitting send, so being able to undo send for 5 seconds actually helped a lot.

  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Friday October 19 2018, @02:15AM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday October 19 2018, @02:15AM (#750765) Journal

    Don't forget that bumble bees can't possibly fly - but they keep on doing so. To be fair, I haven't heard or read this bit of trivia in recent years, but it popped up time and again decades ago.

    http://www.aviation-for-kids.com/bumblebee_flight.html [aviation-for-kids.com]

    The Bumblebee Flight ? Impossible!
    Have you ever heard that the bumblebee flight is impossible,according to the aerodynamic theory?Is this just another urban myth or a reality?

    In 1930 the scientists and engineers from the Gottingen University(Sweden) concluded that this insect should not be able to get of the ground.

    Another team,this time from the Cambridge University(UK), tried to solve the mystery of the bumblebee flight with the help of a robot insect. In 1996 Charles Ellington's team found that extra lift is generated during a downstroke through a vortex that travels along the leading edge of the insect's wings.

    Michael Dickinson and James Birch,of the University of California,Berkely concluded that this explanation is to simple. They studied a scaled-up robotic fruitfly, flapping in a tank of mineral oil to simulate the viscosity of the air as a tiny fly would experience. They concluded that the attachment of the vortex throughout the stroke can not be completely proved by Charles Ellington theory.

    There's a slow motion video of a bumblebee flying on that side - kinda cool.

  • (Score: 1) by Sulla on Friday October 19 2018, @05:29AM (1 child)

    by Sulla (5173) on Friday October 19 2018, @05:29AM (#750799) Journal

    Apparently these so-called "editors" love clickbait now. Where were they for "one simple trick to make mars habitable, find out before its illegal!"? It's a disgrace. Although I couldn't approve of the department more.

    --
    Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 19 2018, @11:58AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 19 2018, @11:58AM (#750873)

      A Trump supporter criticizing clickbait? o_O