Daily Archives: October 16, 2011

Bats – the only flying mammals

Bats are the only mammals which have attained powered, flapping flights. Though bats fly, their anatomy are more closely related to humans than to birds. To be able to understand how bats fly, we must first consider the anatomy of their wings. Bat wings are highly articulated, with more than two dozen independent joints and […]

Aerodynamic Biocar Based on Boxfish

Nowadays, everything is about green technology or efficiency. We have cars like the Toyota Prius and Chevy Volt which both produce far less emissions than your average passenger car. These cars are great solutions to the environmental problems that we currently face as a society of consumers. However, we have yet to design a car […]

The Bumblebee Bat!

Kitti’s Hog-nosed bat ( the bumblebee bat) is an endangered bat with a total population of about 4000 and is the world smallest mammal. It has a length of 1.1-1.3 inches, a wingspan of 6-7 inches, and a weight of only 2 grams. This endangered creature is limited to living in limestone caves typically near […]

A High-Flying Bird

As humans, we usually think that most birds fly pretty high. But when you actually find out how high some of these birds really fly, you would be astounded. The bar-headed goose is one of world’s highest flying bird. These birds have been spotted flying over impressive heights such as Mount Everest (29,029 feet!) and […]

Nature’s Original Fliers

Before any bird ever took flight, a different kind of creature ruled the sky. Pterosaurs, evolving 220 million years ago and a contemporary of the dinosaur, were among nature’s first fliers. They ranged in size from modern-day pigeons to “small airplane[s]”, the largest weighing up to a quarter ton. When they were on the ground […]