Here's the question that's been nagging at us all: why has nobody since Wilbur and Orville looked at our feathered friends when they designed a plane? The Wright brothers, of course, daydreamed about flight while watching birds and managed to get into the air themselves using observations they made. But in the first 100 years of flight almost all heavier-than-air flying machines have been more or less rigid structures with fixed wings. With very powerful engines, planes travel much faster than birds, but have almost zero maneuverability comparatively.
While that has fit our needs for aircraft up until now, there seems to be a developing market for low-speed, highly-maneuverable small craft as mini-robotic drone planes. So it's back to the birds. While this little prototype hardly flaps it's wings (watch the video to see it slowly move its wings) it has obviously taken a cue from the avian world. And I think we can all agree that that's long overdue.
MSNBC.com: Futuristic Spy Plane Maneuvers Like a Bird
Bonus science news: I include this interesting tidbit mostly because the headline is so fun to say. Say it out loud for maximum effect. (Anemone must be pronounced correctly)
MSNBC.com Enemy Anemones wage all-out war
filed: science; technology
2 comments:
You, my friend, crack me up. The humor never ends with you. It did kinda make me smile though, i must be honest.
This is very high praise, I think. I sense a slight hint of sarcasm which I ignore so that I may accept your comment at face value, as unbridled adulation. Thank you very much.
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