If you’ve spent any significant amount of time trying to use a beermat as a frisbee, you’ll know that they’re not very suitable. What you may not know, is the physics behind why they’re not. A research team from the Helmholtz Institute of Radiation and Nuclear Physics and the Argelander Institute for Astronomy at the […]
Tag: flight
The vortex and the dandelion seed: a newfound physics of flying
A new paper (“A separated vortex ring underlies the flight of the dandelion“) published in Nature tells how dandelion seeds create a vortex that keeps them floating through the skies. This little video shows and tells the story of that: (Thanks to the ever-discovery-filled Cocktail Party Physics for bringing this to our attention.) UPDATE (October […]
Hydroplaning Eider Ducks – the math(s)
Ducks can fly. Ducks can swim. And, unusually, they’re pretty good at something in between – viz. hydroplaning (a.k.a. ‘Skeetering’). If you’ve seen them doing it, you might have wondered about the physics (and math(s)) behind it. In which case, you are not alone … “Common eiders (Somateria mollissima) are heavy sea-ducks that spend a […]
How do albatrosses fly around the world? (studies)
This is what Professor John Cleese (Cornell University) had to say about albatrosses in 1970 * But Professor Cleese is by no means the only academic to have taken a keen interest in the enigmatic birds. Many have pondered the question of how wandering albatrosses spends weeks, even months, at sea without ever returning to […]
Airline Upgrade Guilt – an examination
Do people with high levels of guilt-proneness tend to have a heightened sensitivity to injustices – what happens if they get an unexpected airline upgrade for example? This question has been examined by professor Anna S. Mattila and professor Lu Zhang of the School of Hospitality Management, The Pennsylvania State University, US along with professor […]
Earliest reported human flight in Britain (some time near the year 1000)
The earliest reported human flight in Britain happened, if it happened, long. long ago. Alison Hudson reports, in the British Library’s Medieval Manuscripts blog: It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s a… Monk? …did you know that the first recorded pioneer of man-powered flight in the British Isles was an Anglo-Saxon monk from Malmesbury Abbey called Eilmer (or […]
Up in the air, junior bird man: from Ireland to Africa, lawnmower-ly
With a spirit somewhat akin to that of Ig Nobel Prize winner Troy (built a suit of armor to protect against grizzly bears) Hurtubise, comes “One man’s dream project to fly from Ireland to Africa by lawnmower gets under way this week“. The story is reported, with that headline, in The Journal: A FEW MONTHS […]
Failed landings by chickens (pilot studies)
Of all the highly-evolved skills that chickens can be said to have, flying’s not one of them. So although those concerned with animal-welfare will no-doubt welcome moves (afoot in some quarters) to provide more space for egg-laying hens, some have noted that : “This larger, more complex environment permits expression of behaviors not seen in […]
Driving trucks at birds – what happens?
Q. What happens if you drive a partially camouflaged Ford F-250 truck (travelling at 60 km/h [≈ 37 mph]) towards a group of feeding turkey vultures? A. They get out of the way [pdq]. This was one of the findings of an experimental study by Travis L. DeVault, Bradley F. Blackwell, Thomas W. Seamans, Steven […]
Simulated High-Altitude Taste Testing of Tomato Juice
The taste of tomato juice has been tested at high levels —or, rather, at simulated high levels. This study contains details about that: “Odor and taste perception at normal and low atmospheric pressure in a simulated aircraft cabin,” Andrea Burdack-Freitag, Dino Bullinger, Florian Mayer, Klaus Breuer, Journal für Verbraucherschutz und Lebensmittelsicherheit, March 2011, Volume 6, […]