December 7, 2011 at 1:19 pm
On November 9, 2011, our special guest (via Skype) was PhD candidate Yonatan Munk, from the Department of Integrative Biology, University of California at Berkeley. His class appearance can be seen in full on track 12 of the Bio-Aerial Locomotion collection on iTunes U. Yonatan Munk is writing his dissertation at this point, after working […]
November 30, 2011 at 12:28 am
Model rocketry has a frequently hostile relationship with nature. Hard desert floors shatter swiftly falling rockets, ponds drown them, high grass hides them, and high winds carry them away. So many rockets drift into the forests that inevitably surround launch fields that my local club joking acronyms itself “Carefully Arranged Tree Ornaments”. But model rocketry […]
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 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 […]