Feathers
are one of natures most impressive and least understood examples of materials
engineering.
They have
been evolving since some time in the Jurassic period, over 150 million years
ago.
With each generation of birds, feathers evolve little by little towards fitness. Fitness, in their case, seems to mean a combination of strength- needed to support aerodynamic loading, lightweight- required to permit flight, and fatigue resistance- to cope with the cyclic loading of flapping flight.
With each generation of birds, feathers evolve little by little towards fitness. Fitness, in their case, seems to mean a combination of strength- needed to support aerodynamic loading, lightweight- required to permit flight, and fatigue resistance- to cope with the cyclic loading of flapping flight.
by Christian Laurent
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