Introduction
A phenomenon over which scientists have been baffled for many years is the pattern and mechanics of insect flight. From the slower (although by our standards relatively fast) strokes of the butterfly's wings, to the rapid flutter of a fruit fly or moth, the intrigue of these tiny creatures special ability is undeniable. It seems that scientists are beginning to make headway in understanding insect flight, but there is still much more we can learn.
Article Review
The article "Solving the Mystery of Insect Flight" essentially discussed an experiment in which a team of researchers reconstructed mechanically, and thereby, attempted to understand the technique a fruit fly uses to hover, in which it flaps its wings 200 times per second. The team employed a machine dubbed a "robofly" to simulate the movements the insect performs, but only at a thousandth of the speed of an actual fruit fly. It is explained that, while the fruit fly does not understand such physics terminology as "vortex production," it manages to perform this spectacular feat regardless.
After a brief explanation of the objective of the experiment, the article goes into some evolutionary background information on insects, explaining that so many species have been able to survive and reproduce because they can fly. They can hunt prey, escape predators, and travel long distances relatively quickly. One of the main reasons for this experiment, is that, while scientists understand that flight has been a great evolutionary advantage for these creatures, they did not understand the aerodynamics of flying itself. The author says that scientists have been able to figure out and comprehend the aerodynamics of planes so much better than the flight of insects because an airplane's wings do not flap.
This article then explains that the blur of wings people see when they look at an insect, is not merely an up-and-down motion, but that the wings move in more of an ovular motion, rotating on an axis. A major problem for researchers has been a tendency to explain, or at least try to understand insect flight in terms of the steady state flight style of airplanes. This does not work because of the capriciousness of insect flight. It is revealed that, as engineers use smaller models to understand vehicles and machines, insect scientists will use larger models to understand the intricacies of insects.
Next, the head researcher of this experiment offers an explanation for insect flight. He discusses a previous experiment in which he looked at a phenomenon known as "delayed stall." Basically, a delayed stall is where an insect's wing flips over and changes direction, creating a new vortex, and providing a powerful lift, which continues throughout the insects flight. While this seems to be a major breakthrough in understanding the flight of insects, it does leave certain questions unanswered, such as, how do some insects hoist so much weight into the air with their wings?
The article concludes by stating that there are still many questions about insect flight that groups of researchers are arduously studying to form a cohesive theory. The lead researcher in this project suggests that the best explanation for insect flight could be a combination of rotational circulation and something known as wake capture- "the collision of the wing with the swirling wake of the previous stroke," as the most viable explanation, but makes it clear that there is still much work to be done.
Comments
From a personal standpoint, I am in awed and amazed at the ability of insects to propel themselves through the air; mainly because I can't. It is incredible that we have mastered such facets of science as the necessary combination of radioactive isotopes to create a nuclear explosion, or the dynamics and dimensions of a planetary orbit millions of miles away, but have, to this point, been unable to explain the flight patterns of a relatively low order creature. I am glad that scientists are taking steps toward correcting this problem.