As children, we all visited history museums and gazed up at the ancient bones of a dinosaur rearing towards the sky, fighting off some other ferocious winged being. But was that ferocious winged being, when it was alive, just a bunch of bones too? According to new findings, the pterosaur, Quetzalcoatlus, might not have been able […]
Many are skeptical of the idea of flying, especially when they are told that animals other than birds or insects are capable of achieving flight. For this reason, the concept of flying squids sounds a little ridiculous. However, squid are accustomed to gliding in water, which means that they are able to use the same techniques […]
Convergent evolution is a term used to describe species that have individually evolved to acquire similar biological traits in order to serve the same purpose. Gliding is a befitting example of such evolution – mammals, reptiles, and amphibians alike have all exhibited different means of turning a fall into a smooth, controlled descent, showcasing the […]
Imagine a plane able to travel immense distances with no propulsion save the power of the wind. Such a capability, though unfathomable to most humans, has already been realized by the natural world in the unique capabilities of the Wandering Albatross. Without even flapping their wings, Wandering Albatross can travel 500-600 miles in a single […]
The flying lemur is one of the few mammals that exhibit the evolutionary gift of aerial locomotion. However, the flying lemur does not necessarily “fly” from one place to another, rather it glides through the rain forests of tropical Asia. This ability to glide is due to a thin, blanket-like membrane that extends between its […]
The Starling is a common passerine bird that can be found in temperate reigons throughout North America and Europe. It is a black songbird that has shiny green and purple feathers over its entire body. This bird has an average weight of about 78 grams and has a wingspan of about 35 cm. Also, the […]
While humans have been trying to build larger and larger flying machines that can carry more and more people and cargo, even more challenging has been the task of creating very small machines that can be controlled remotely and can fly in tight spaces. In the past few years, Robert Wood and his team at […]