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Birds display a rainbow palette of colors, many of which come from special arrangements of melanin, the pigment that gives color to our skin. Researchers at the University of Akron have developed a safe and stable pigment based on the melanin structures. 
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"Boeing Co. and NASA have found an inexpensive way to cut airline fuel bills by borrowing a trick from the world’s greatest long-distance aviators: migratory birds. By lining up cruising aircraft in a V-shaped formation favored by Canada geese, carriers would be able to produce a leap in efficiency without investing in structural makeovers or futuristic technology. The idea is to link the flying convoys safely using navigation and collision-avoidance tools that already are widely installed in cockpits."
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"The habits and anatomy of birds are being used by boffins at Airbus to develop quieter and more fuel efficient planes. The aviation giant, which makes and designs wings in Broughton, Flintshire, and Filton, Gloucestershire, employs Professor Norman Wood to unlock the mysteries of the natural world to help gain a commercial advantage.
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Plenty of birds fly vast distances on their migratory trips around planet Earth. But the most amazing of all might the frigate bird, which can stay aloft for two months straight without landing or resting. How the heck do they do that?
Marcelo Errera's curator insight,
July 4, 2016 3:19 PM
A design that evolved together with a flight plan. Evolution is simultaneous for all traits.
In order to move mass over the Earth surface, i.e., to make energy flow, systems evolved in order to reduce the exergy expenditure.
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As long as there have been people watching birds, there have been theories as to how and why they do what they do. In the modern era, theories about why birds flock and why they migrate in v-formations have abounded, yet answers have been few. But new research using creative technology on both starling murmurations and bald ibis’ migration reveals that complex flight dynamics and rapid-fire adjustments based on sensory feedback previously believed impossible for birds are indeed occurring.
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"The mystery of why so many birds fly in a V formation may have been solved. Scientists from the Royal Veterinary College fitted data loggers to a flock of rare birds that were being trained to migrate by following a microlight. This revealed that the birds flew in the optimal position - gaining lift from the bird in front by remaining close to its wingtip. The study, published in the journal Nature, also showed that the birds timed their wing beats."
Miguel Prazeres's insight:
Flying commercial planes in formation much like birds do has been conceptualized as a way to save fuel by flying in formation: http://www.triplepundit.com/2009/08/taking-cues-from-birds-to-green-the-airline-industry/
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The PowerGripper [tool] is modelled on the complex kinematics of the bird’s beak. In mechanical terms, this is known as Watt’s linkage.
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"[...] a team of Danish researchers has designed a surprisingly “organic” model for the inside of an airplane wing by harnessing the immense computing power of 8,000 CPUs. In a letter published in Nature, Niels Aage and colleagues from the University of Denmark showed off an intricately curved and fractal-like airfoil design that’s strikingly similar to the interior of a bird’s wing and beak."
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"Bright colors in the natural world often result from tiny structures in feathers or wings that change the way light behaves when it’s reflected. This structural color is responsible for the vivid hues of birds and butterflies. Artificially harnessing this effect could allow us to engineer new materials for applications such as solar cells and chameleon-like adaptive camouflage. Inspired by the deep blue coloration of a native North American bird, Stellar’s jay, a team at Nagoya University reproduced the color in their lab, giving rise to a new type of artificial pigment. “The Stellar’s jay’s feathers provide an excellent example of angle-independent structural color,” says Yukikazu Takeoka, “This color is enhanced by dark materials, which in this case can be attributed to black melanin particles in the feathers.”
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"Hummingbirds have a unique collision avoidance system built into their brains that allows them to perform high-speed aerobatics in safety. The super-agile birds, whose wings beat up to 70 times a second, can hover, fly backwards, and whizz through dense vegetation at more than 50 kilometres per hour. How they manage to avoid potentially fatal crashes has remained a mystery until now. Researchers in Canada conducted a series of experiments which showed that the birds process visual information differently from other animals. As they dart and dive at speed, they judge distance from the way looming objects appear to get bigger, and vice versa."
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"[...] In a macroscopic axis, the A350 XWB considers the actively deformation of the surfaces to provide the best aerodynamic performance and control of load for each flight conditions; takeoff, climb, cruise, approach, landing, maneuver, turbulence-encounters, etc. This is what birds, fish and marine mammals perform beautifully, called "morphing". The idea is to move from a 'rigid' world to flexibility and adaptation technologies."
Marcelo Errera's curator insight,
July 10, 2015 10:42 AM
The design evolution process never ends. There are some robust associations between features that guide the designs which live longer.
In other words, the best design today will eventually be replaced by tomorrow's best of "de jour".
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Researchers are developing a bio-inspired unmanned aircraft capable of soaring like birds, boosting energy efficiency and endurance. The research team is aiming to be the first in the world to demonstrate an autonomous unmanned aircraft that can mimic birds by using updrafts around buildings to stay airborne.
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Glass manufacturer looks to biomimicry for design inspiration. A lookout tower in Lindisfarne is the first UK building to use a new glazing designed to save the lives of birds. Each year millions of birds die by crashing into glazed buildings but Ornilux – a new glazing developed by German manufacturer Arnold Glas – is intended to make the lookout tower and visitor centre at Lindisfarne bird-friendly.
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A team of doctoral students from the Aeronautics and Astronautics program at Stanford University conceptualized a way for commercial planes to save fuel by flying in formation. “In principle, the idea of flying aircraft in formation is the same as for migrating birds,” said Tristan Flanzer, one of the team members. “While in formation, birds experience lower drag and therefore can fly further. Aircrafts can take advantage of the same principles to reduce their drag."
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