Nature is full of cilia, hairs, and similar flexible structures. Unsurprisingly, flows interact with these structures very differently than with smooth surfaces. Here, researchers investigate flow in a channel lined Keep reading
Tag: flexibility
“Reconfiguring It Out”
Leaves flutter and bend in the breeze, changing their shape in response to the flow. Here, researchers investigate this behavior using flexible disks pulled through water. The more flexible the Keep reading
Meet BILLY
Many wings in nature are not rigid. Instead they flex and curve with the flow. Here researchers imitate that phenomenon with BILLY (Bio-Inspired Lightweight and Limber wing prototYpe). Using an evolutionary-style algorithm, Keep reading
Flexible Wings Aid Butterfly Flight
Butterflies are some of the oddest flyers of the insect world, given the large size of their wings relative to their bodies. That could be a recipe for inefficient flight, Keep reading
The Wanderings of Micro-Scallops
In the 19th century, botanist Robert Brown observed pollen granules beneath his microscope jittering randomly. Einstein showed that this motion resulted from the impacts of much-smaller atoms against the particles. Keep reading