An owl bursting through a cloud of bubbles is helping researchers better understand the aerodynamics of flight. Researchers in London have discovered a new way in which birds use their tail to provide lift and so reduce drag while gliding. They tracked the swirling motion of more than 20,000 heliumfilled soap bubbles as they were displaced by birds of prey in flight. Their findings could provide a new way to improve the efficiency of small gliding aircraft.

Read the original research paper at: https://jeb.biologists.org/content/22...