Dinosaur inspires flying robot

Electronics Weekly ^ | October 28, 2008 | Steve Bush

[2ndDivisionVet]

Texan researchers are mimicking the physical and biological characteristics of a pterosaur to create a 'pterodrone' - an unmanned aerial vehicle that flies, walks and sails like the original.

"The next generation of airborne drones won't just be small and silent," said Texas Tech University, "they'll alter their wing shapes using morphing techniques to squeeze through confined spaces, dive between buildings, zoom under overpasses, land on apartment balconies, or sail along the coastline."

The research team consists of palaeontologist Sankar Chatterjee of Texas Tech, University of Florida aeronautical engineer Rick Lind, and their students Andy Gedeon and Brian Roberts.

The original is the early Cretaceous (115 million year old) Brazilian pterosaur Tapejara wellnhoferi, and the scientist are exploring it by modelling its features including: skeleton, skin, blood vessels, muscles, tendons, nerves and cranial plate.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Science fiction becoming science fact.

[2ndDivisionVet]

PING!

[OneWingedShark]

>Science fiction becoming science fact.

Nifty! Very nifty...
How long until we can put lasers on their heads?

[SunkenCiv]

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic ·
	Gods Graves Glyphs	Thanks 2ndDV. I think this may have been posted before, but I'm going to ping it just to be on the safe side. :') To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
· Google · Archaeologica · ArchaeoBlog · Archaeology magazine · Biblical Archaeology Society · · Mirabilis · Texas AM Anthropology News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · · History or Science & Nature Podcasts · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·

[Monkey Face]

Hmmmm...
Makes me think of “rods”...those things scientists have filmed sometimes and denied often, but the same ones WE see out of the corners of our eyes...

[Paleo Conservative]

Pterosaurs weren’t dinosaurs.

[SunkenCiv]

We see these?

[neverdem]

thanks, bfl

[Monkey Face]

I’ve seen them. It’s like looking at something in the dark: if you look right at it, you can’t see it, but if you look off to the side, you will see it.

I’ve seen these “rods” both in the daytime as a fleeting flickering “shadow” zooming past my peripheral vision, and at night, as a flickering brightness.

I’m sure other folks have experienced them, but had/have no idea what they are. When caught on camera, they are pretty interesting.

[Constitution Day]

Where’s my flying car?!?!