(Nanowerk News) Engineers have long sought to unlock the secrets behind insects' uncanny flight abilities and agility in hopes of creating a new class of tiny yet capable flying robots. These flapping ...

Airbus created the AlbatrossONE, a small-scale remote-controlled aircraft with wingtips that can flap like a bird during turbulence to better handle the strong gusts of winds. These hinged, flapping ...

The wing dynamics of flying animal species have been the inspiration for numerous flying robotic systems. While birds and bats typically flap their wings using the force produced by their pectoral and ...

Although wing-flapping micro-drones do already exist, the things tend to be quite fragile – and thus not ideally suited to real-world use. An experimental new one, however, utilizes a softer mechanism ...

Bio-inspired wind sensing using strain sensors on flexible wings could revolutionize robotic flight control strategy. Researchers at Institute of Science Tokyo have developed a method to detect wind ...

There are no powered spinning propellers in nature. When evolution has found an advantage to producing thrust in a fluid, it has done it mainly by flapping things back and forth. This new VTOL ...

Since the dawn of aviation, birds have been an inspiration for visionaries of flight. And now, engineers are once again looking to feathered friends to inspire the next generation of aircraft wings.

Next time you look up at the sky at a flock of birds, pay close attention. They might not be what you think they are. Scientists at New Mexico Tech are using birds preserved by taxidermy and turning ...

WASHINGTON — A new study sheds light on just how efficiently the world’s largest soaring bird rides air currents to stay aloft for hours without flapping its wings. The Andean condor has a wingspan ...

Engineers at Aeronvironment (AV) of Monrovia, California, have demonstrated the world's first successful flight of the smallest ever self-powered, rudderless, aircraft with flapping wings. The nano ...

In ancient Greek mythology, Icarus' wax wings melted when he dared to fly too close to the sun. Now, researchers have made artificial wings that are actually powered by the sun. The tiny wings, which ...

At this point, building a flying vehicle isn’t terribly hard. Aviation enthusiasts can buy DIY kits and build themselves a plane that can easily and safely take to the skies. But a flying vehicle that ...