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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Dandelion seeds fly using 'impossible' method never before seen in nature [nature.com]

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 [ed.ac.uk] and BBC [bbc.com].

A separated vortex ring underlies the flight of the dandelion [nature.com] (DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0604-2) (DX [doi.org])

Original Submission