A bird banking in a crosswind doesn't rely on spinning blades. Its wings flex, twist and respond instantly to its environment ...

Researchers attached covert feather-inspired flaps to a 3D-printed model airplane wing and mounted it in a wind tunnel to explore the role of covert feathers in bird flight. By precisely measuring how ...

Engineers found a way to help airplanes avoid stall with lightweight plastic flaps that flutter with pressure changes. The flaps mimick a class of feathers that are key to birds' most daring aerial ...

The Wright Brothers studied bird flight before they designed the first airplane. Now modern aircraft fly higher and faster than any bird, yet no manufactured device matches the graceful movements and ...

Postdoctoral researcher Girguis O. Sedky sitting inside of the wind tunnel, showing the covert feather-inspired flaps attached to the 3D-printed model airplane wing. The flaps deploy automatically in ...

The ability of birds to fly more efficiently by changing the shape of their wings has inspired a number of approaches to developing low-energy aircraft. If this technique can be replicated, where ...