Bats use weighty wings to land upside down

Compared to birds and insects, bats have heavy wings for their body size. Those comparatively cumbersome flappers might seem a detriment to maneuverability, but new research shows that bats' extra wing mass makes possible ...

Plan to use satellites to monitor British motorists

(PhysOrg.com) -- Britain may soon be using global positioning satellites and advanced speed cameras with number plate recognition technology to track speeding motorists, and according to a report released by the House of ...

Why do guppies jump? The answer is evolutionary (w/ video)

(Phys.org) —If you've owned a pet guppy, you know they often jump out of their tanks. Many a child has asked why the guppy jumped; many a parent has been stumped for an answer. Now a study by University of Maryland biologist ...

Leaping larvae! How do they do that without legs?

Attaching its head to its tail to form a ring, a 3-millimeter larva of the goldenrod gall midge squeezes some internal fluids into its tail section, swelling it and raising the pressure like an inner tube.

Infrared video reveals how hummingbirds dissipate heat

(Phys.org)—A team of researchers with George Fox University in Oregon and the University of Montana has uncovered the ways in which calliope hummingbirds (Selasphorus calliope) get rid of the large amount of heat that is ...

Designing ice repellent materials

Materials that actively repel water and ice very strongly are sought after by the aviation industry and for many other technical applications. ETH researchers have now found out how to specifically design the rigid surfaces ...

Swimming mechanics of the gossamer worm revealed

Many animals in the midwater—the vast expanse of water between the surface and the deep seafloor—are always on the move. Unlike its bottom-dwelling kin, the gossamer worm (Tomopteris sp.) lives in constant motion. This ...

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