Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 10 December 2004:
Vol. 306. no. 5703, pp. 1899 - 1900
DOI: 10.1126/science.1107070
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Perspectives

Also see the archival list of Science's Compass: Enhanced Perspectives

PHYSIOLOGY:
Enhanced: Turning on a Dime

Ulrike K. Müller and David Lentink

Insects are considered the masters of unconventional lift during flight. In their Perspective, Müller and Lentink discuss the discovery that birds, too, can produce unconventional lift. Apparently, swifts use their wings to generate a so-called leading-edge vortex to produce the lift they need to fly very fast and execute the tight turns that enable them to capture their insect prey (Videler et al.).

The authors are in the Department of Experimental Zoology, Wageningen University, the Netherlands. E-mail: ulrike.muller{at}wur.nl

Read the Full Text

To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)