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Flight of the Dandelion

posted by chromas on Thursday October 18 2018, @07:20PM   
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)

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Original Submission

• Re:Hate the headline -- HATE IT HATE IT (Score: 5, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Friday October 19 2018, @02:15AM

  by Runaway1956 (2926) 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.

  Parent

  Starting Score:	1		point
  Moderation		+3
  Interesting=2, Informative=1, Total=3
  Extra 'Interesting' Modifier		0
  Karma-Bonus Modifier		+1
  Total Score:		5