Daily Archives: November 12, 2011

Festo’s Flapping Flight

The German company, Festo specializes in Pneumatic and Electrical automation technology. This means that their research is directed toward the mastery and optimization of efficient airflow. At this company they have ongoing research in the automation field with their Bionic Learning Network. Here they take engineers and scientists from their company along with people from […]

Application of Hummingbird Physics

In a previous post from the last quarter, Grace Ingalls talked about the physics of how hummingbirds fly.  The hummingbird was described to fly more like an insect rather than a bird since it was able to hover in every direction as opposed to conventional birds who flew only in a forward direction. Impressed by […]

Sky slitherers

Say the word “glide” out loud, and you’re likely to think first and foremost of wings. Most gliding creatures have some kind of wing-like structure to aid in their battle against gravity, from the patagium of the flying squirrel to the wide, papery wings of the Javan cucumber seed. Most, but not all. Meet genus […]