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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, 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.
    Starting Score:    1  point
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       Insightful=1, Overrated=1, Total=2
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  • (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.