Daily Archives: October 8, 2012

Obstacle avoidance in flying robots

Researchers at Harvard and MIT have been hard at work trying to understand the mechanics of in flight collision avoidance in birds. the goal of this project is to develop small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles that can navigate a forest or urban setting without crashing into trees or buildings, while still being able to fly relatively […]

Owl: Silent and Swift

Bats aren’t the only aerial predator of night. Owls with their stealth abilities and quick moves dominate the night. Owls are known as the most silent flying animal. How do owls approach their prey so fast without being noticed? Can we take their solution of silence and apply it to our aircraft?

The terror of prehistoric skies may have not been able to fly?

The Quetzalcoatlus, named after the frightening Aztec God, was a ptrodactyloid dinosaur known for being the largest creature to ever take flight. With an astonishing wingspan of 40 feet and a weight of 400 pounds, these species must have been incredibly feared as they soared through the skies in search of food. Right? Well, maybe […]

The Galapagos Islands: A Perfect Example Of Why Nature Should Be Preserved

The Galapagos Islands, a group of islands in the South Pacific off the coast of South America, became infamous in 1859 because of the industrious work of Charles Darwin, a naturalist. Darwin’s research came under extreme scrutiny because his book, On the Origin of Species, claimed that evolution occurred, arguing against the common held beliefs […]