Animal flight performance has been studied using models developed for man-made aircraft. For an aeroplane with fixed wings, the energetic cost as a function of flight speed can be expressed in terms ...

Using robotic and animal models, researchers have shown that some dinosaurs were already flapping their rudimentary wings as a side effect of running, prior to evolving the ability to fly. The finding ...

Mosquitoes flap their wings not just to stay aloft but for two other critical purposes: to generate sound and to point that buzz in the direction of a potential mate, researchers at Johns Hopkins ...

Taking their cues from the birds, Airbus engineers have flown a scale-model airplane that incorporates flapping wing-tips. Based on the structure of the albatross wing, the remote-controlled ...

Bio-inspired wind sensing using strain sensors on flexible wings could revolutionize robotic flight control strategy. Researchers have developed a method to detect wind direction with 99% accuracy ...

Flapping-wing micro air vehicles (FWMAVs) are characterized by their compact size, lightweight design, and high maneuverability, making them highly practical for various applications. However, the ...

Anna's hummingbird flying in the experimental setup, drinking sugar water from a fake flower. Credit: Lentink Lab / Stanford University. Anna's hummingbird flying in the experimental setup, drinking ...

Charles Darwin once posited that birds might flap their wings to communicate, not just to fly. However, this has always been pretty tricky to test. Now, 150 years later, researchers have discovered ...

Back in 2018, we heard how UK startup Volerian was planning to build a VTOL aircraft with a unique flapping-wing propulsion system. Although we've yet to see a functioning model of that vehicle, the ...