Scientists have uncovered the secret of flying snakes

The famous phrase "Born to crawl cannot fly" is not actually true. Among the snakes found are the only ones that can travel a distance of several meters through the air. We are talking about Golden tree snakes.

A group of American scientists have studied the aerodynamics of snakes on a plane and found out the secret of unique creatures.

Flying snakes have been studied for almost 50 years. It is established that, before "fly", the snake hanging from the tip of the branch. Next, determine the trajectory, creating the tail and pushed, squirming, rushes into the arms of air.

Interestingly, in normal circumstances, the Golden snake body in cross section has the shape of a circle, but during the flight is much flattened. Engineer-physicist John Sochi States that this metamorphosis significantly improves the aerodynamic properties of the snake's body, allowing the creature to fly farther and better to maneuver.

Using high-speed cameras were fixed in the dynamics of markers attached to the backs of snakes. Next, the researchers created a mathematical model of an amazing flight. The data obtained can be usefully applied in robotics.

Translated by «Yandex.Translator»