The buzz: Wings flip,
air whirls, bugs lift
Although conventional aerodynamics
predicts that bugs shouldn't be able to get off the ground, experiments
with robotic fly wings have now revealed the range of flapping motions
that give insects aerodynamic lift.
References:
Dickinson, M.H., F.-O. Lehmann, and S.P. Sane. 1999. Wing rotation
and the aerodynamic basis of insect flight. Science 284(June
18):1954.
Further Readings:
Vergano, D. 1996. Robotic moth reveals key to insect flight. Science
News 150(Dec. 21&28):390.
A movie of an insect flapping its wings can be found at New York
University's Web site located at http://math.nyu.edu/aml/fly.html.
Sources:
Michael H. Dickinson
University of California, Berkeley
Department of Integrative Biology
Berkeley, CA 94720
Fritz-Olaf Lehmann
University of Würzburg am Hubland
Department of Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiological Zoology
Theodor-Boveri-Institute
97074 Würzburg
Germany
Sanjay P. Sane
University of California, Berkeley
Department of Integrative Biology
Berkeley, CA 94720
Adrian L.R. Thomas
University of Oxford
Department of Zoology
South Parks Road
Oxford OX1 3PS
United Kingdom
From Science
News, Vol. 155, No. 25, June 19, 1999, p. 390.
Copyright © 1999, Science Service.
