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A brown and gray Daubenton’s bat in midair, flying in the general direction of the camera with wings outstretched and mouth open.
Duplicated Gene Helps Bats Survive “Arms Race” With Viruses
Bats are known for staying healthy even while harboring viral infections. Now, research sheds light on how their unusual immune system evolved.
Duplicated Gene Helps Bats Survive “Arms Race” With Viruses
Duplicated Gene Helps Bats Survive “Arms Race” With Viruses

Bats are known for staying healthy even while harboring viral infections. Now, research sheds light on how their unusual immune system evolved.

Bats are known for staying healthy even while harboring viral infections. Now, research sheds light on how their unusual immune system evolved.

flight

Slideshow: Watch Insects in Motion
Amanda Heidt | Mar 1, 2021 | 4 min read
Researchers across disciplines are adopting high-tech tools to better understand the kinematics and behaviors behind insect flight.
Free Fallin’: How Scientists Study Unrestrained Insects
Amanda Heidt | Mar 1, 2021 | 10+ min read
Researchers are pulling from video games, sports broadcasting, meteorology, and even missile guidance technology to better investigate how insects have mastered flight.
Infographic: VR, Radar, and Other Tricks for Studying Insects
Amanda Heidt | Mar 1, 2021 | 1 min read
Researchers are getting creative to understand flight behavior in the fast-moving and tiny animals.
Image of the Day: Moth Movement
Emily Makowski | Jan 2, 2020 | 1 min read
Neuronal signal timing is crucial for muscle coordination during flight.
Image of the Day: Fukuipteryx Fossil
Emily Makowski | Nov 15, 2019 | 1 min read
This ancient bird has a modern tail bone.
Image of the Day: Flight Styles
Emily Makowski | Oct 25, 2019 | 2 min read
The evolution of different ways of flying in birds affected wing range of motion, but not wing shape.
bar-headed geese fly over the Himalayas
Bar-Headed Geese Slow Their Metabolism to Soar over Everest
Nicoletta Lanese | Sep 4, 2019 | 3 min read
The birds also decrease their heart rate and chill their blood to maintain flight in hypoxic conditions.
LED flight simulator for mosquitos
Image of the Day: Mosquito Flight Simulator
Nicoletta Lanese | Jul 30, 2019 | 1 min read
Carbon dioxide pumped into a bright chamber mimics a breathing host for the pest to target.
robobee insect robot flying untethered Harvard microrobotics micro robotics mini robots
Image of the Day: Bee Bot
Chia-Yi Hou | Jul 1, 2019 | 1 min read
Developers made an insect-like robot with two pairs of wings.
hawk flight flying how birds hunt hunting trajectory slow motion camera trapping
Image of the Day: Close Encounters
Chia-Yi Hou | Jun 19, 2019 | 1 min read
Watch a hawk close in on a target.
theropod Ambopteryx longibrachium new dinosaur species paleontology china wings
Image of the Day: Bat-like Wings
Chia-Yi Hou | May 9, 2019 | 1 min read
Paleontologists find a fossil of a dinosaur, Ambopteryx longibrachium, with membranous wings, in China.
dinosaur wings flapping movement robot robotics model
Image of the Day: Passive Flapping
Chia-Yi Hou | May 3, 2019 | 1 min read
A robot model of a winged but flightless dinosaur suggests the dinosaur may have flapped its wings while moving on the ground.
Feathered Dino Archaeopteryx Probably Flew Like a Pheasant
Ashley Yeager | Mar 13, 2018 | 2 min read
High-tech imaging of the Jurassic creature’s humerus and ulna bones reveals it flapped its wings to evade predators.
Bats May Have Taken on Viruses To Stay in Flight
Ashley Yeager | Feb 22, 2018 | 2 min read
Dampening the immune response to stay up in the air may have helped bats become tolerant to viral infections.
How Hummingbirds Sense Movement While Hovering
Anna Azvolinsky | Jan 5, 2017 | 3 min read
A visual motion-sensing brain region found in all four-limbed vertebrates displays unique properties in Anna’s hummingbirds.
Leader in Biomechanics Dies
Kerry Grens | Dec 1, 2015 | 1 min read
Duke’s Steven Vogel studied how plants and animals adapt to the physical world.
“Feathered Poodle From Hell” Dino Found
Kerry Grens | Jul 20, 2015 | 1 min read
A newly discovered relative of Velociraptor had abundant plumage and birdlike wings.  
Winged Dino Found?
Bob Grant | May 1, 2015 | 2 min read
Researchers describe a small species that may have soared through Jurassic skies on membranous wings like those of bats and flying squirrels.
How Tinier Theropods Took Flight
Jyoti Madhusoodanan | Aug 4, 2014 | 2 min read
Downsizing dinosaurs was key to the evolution of birds, a study shows. 
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