November 13, 2011 at 11:30 am
In 2001, marine biologist Silvia Macia along with her husband Michael Robinson saw an unusual incident. They had just witnessed a squid “flying” above the water (yes, above!). After discovering this magnificent discovery, they started research on squids; they asked whether any researchers have seen such a thing, a flying squid. This eventually leads to […]
November 12, 2011 at 11:23 pm
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 […]
November 12, 2011 at 7:59 pm
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 […]
November 12, 2011 at 7:10 pm
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 […]
November 10, 2011 at 3:34 am
A previous post by a student in last quarter’s class briefly discusses the autorotation abilities of the maple samara, then talked about a monocopter based on the samara’s design. The maple samara is certainly fascinating – but it is not the only seed with interesting aerodynamic properties. In fact, it is described as “crude” in […]