The maneuvers of bats are exposed

2007/05/14 Roa Zubia, Guillermo - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Zoologia
• Fisika

Birds and bats do not fly in the same way. For example, the upward movement they make when waving the wings is different; the birds use feathers to have no resistance to the air, and the bats, having no feather, have to place the wings in vertical position in the upward movement. It is not a very aerodynamic solution, but it has the advantage of maneuvering easily at low speed. Some physicists at Lund University in Sweden have discovered the cause. The whirlwind that generates each wing of the bat when moving up hardly affects the other. In some ways, the wings function alone, which makes the capacity of manoeuvre very high. The birds, however, fly coordinated by both wings, create from the aerodynamic point of view a very effective pattern of turbulence, but they cannot maneuver so easily. In the wind tunnel a small fountain has been installed that pour honey and the bats have been measured while eating honey. Experts say that the way to fly from bats is similar to that of bees, but of course, it is not for the subject of honey; all bats fly in this way. Lund University