Aviation Research, for the Birds

The fearless research subject, ready for flight. (Credit: Lentink Lab/Stanford University) Sometimes, it takes a goggle-wearing parrot to show us where we went wrong. A study from researchers at Stanford University suggests that our previous models of lift, as they pertain to animals, are all incomplete, based on observations of an intrepid parrotlet in their laboratory. Flying through a sheet of illuminated aerosol particles, the avian aviator pushed through the boundaries of our current understanding of wake dynamics, hinting that there is new ground yet to be broken.