MINIATURE whirlwinds created by the beating of their wings help insects hover
and fly, according to Jane Wang, a physicist at Cornell University in New York
state. Insect flight has long been a puzzle—in the 1970s scientists tried
and failed to explain how dragonflies kept aloft.
But now, using a complex computer model that simulates the airflow around
dragonfly wings, Wang found that vortices were “very important in most
hovering”. “It helps them get lift, thrust to turn, and manoeuvre,” she says.
Vortices are unimportant in helping planes to fly. But to an insect’s wing, air
is viscous and…
