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 ...

Modern birds capable of flight all have a specialized wing structure called the propatagium without which they could not fly. The evolutionary origin of this structure has remained a mystery, but new ...

“Awkward” would probably be the most benevolent word I could use to describe the explosive launch into flight of the California quail. Certainly, the words graceful or athletic do not come to mind. A ...

Birds use a thumb-like structure on the wing to create a small vortex which makes their turns and landings smooth, new research shows. This is the first time that researchers have found evidence that ...

Pigeons may be considered rats of the sky, but some scientists have found greater value in these urban birds: the blueprint for a new generation of flying machines. Birds can modify the shape of their ...

Bird-bone structures emerge from an evolution-like algorithm. Engineers have used a supercomputing technique that mimics natural selection to design the internal structure of an aircraft wing from ...