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  • Try as we might - we cannot master the flight of the hummingbird.

  • Hey everyone this is Carin for DNews and today we are talking about human attempts to replicate

  • mother nature. Biomimicry is the term used to describe technologies that we develop to

  • try to be as awesome as the structures and functions we observe in the animal kingdom.

  • Things like slug slime and spider silk have been mimicked in many scientific studies;

  • however, today’s example comes courtesy of the bird world.

  • Hummingbirds move with awe-inspiring speed. Their tiny wings can flap at such high frequencies

  • that they are audible to human ears - hence the name hummingbird. The fastest flappers

  • are flapping up to 200 times per second. Hummingbirds are also masters of the hover - maintaining

  • their aerial positions with what seems to be very little effort. Scientists have long

  • been interested in mimicking the flight techniques of hummingbirds, and our most efficient microhelicopters

  • actually do a pretty respectable job. The Prox Dynamics Black Hornet autonomous microhelicopter

  • is the most sophisticated available - these tiny drones are about the same size as hummingbirds

  • and they are currently used in Afghanistan by the English army.

  • But how efficient are these autonomous helicopter drones? A recent study led by David Lentink

  • at Stanford university looked into that question. The researchers analyzed the aerodynamic properties

  • of hummingbird feathers from twelve different species and compared them to the blades of

  • the black hornets. Specifically mounted cameras allowed the researchers to visualize airflow

  • around the bird wings and helicopter blades that were spun on an apparatus designed for

  • this exact purpose. In addition, sensitive load cells were used to measure both lift

  • force and drag on the feathers at various angles and speeds. In other words - how hard

  • does a bird have to work in order to achieve lift or to maintain its position in the air?

  • Do the helicopter blades have to work harder?

  • Actually, no. The news isn’t terrible, but weve clearly got a ways to go. Lentink

  • and his team found that microhelicopter blades were able to hover with an efficiency that

  • rivals that of an average hummingbird - which is pretty darn impressive. However, hummingbirds

  • with top flight wings such as those of the Anna’s hummingbird, common on the west coast

  • of North America, are able to increase efficiency over the helicopters by a staggering 27%.

  • The best engineers in the world remain outperformed by the power of evolution!

  • Overall, this work most definitely represents a significant achievement in the study of

  • aerodynamics….but there’s more work to be done in order to create technologies that

  • rival the movement patterns of hummingbirds. I mean, think about it - this was just one

  • aspect of hummingbird flight - hovering. What about diving, navigating through complex environments

  • or flying through wind gusts?? Not to mention that hummingbirds actually flap their wings

  • - this study looked at the movement of spinning. If hummingbirds could actually move by spinning

  • their wings like a helicopter they would only utilize half as much energy as they currently

  • do.

  • When it comes to biomimicry, there are many more secrets to be discovered from hummingbirds

  • and countless other organisms about amazing ways they carry out their day to day functions.

  • Which animal do you think we should try to mimic and why? Leave your answers in the comments

  • below, and subscribe here for more DNews every day of the week. See ya next time!

Try as we might - we cannot master the flight of the hummingbird.

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ハチドリが空を飛ぶことについて教えてくれること (What Hummingbirds Can Teach Us About Flying)

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    葉怡芬 に公開 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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