THE humble pigeon could provide the unlikely inspiration for a flock of small military drones that can navigate enclosed spaces. It turns out the common birds can redirect their flight path with the agility of a helicopter.
Ivo Ros of Harvard University and colleagues let three pigeons loose in a corridor that incorporated a sharp 90-degree turn. They placed 16 markers on each pigeon’s body and set up nine synchronised high-speed cameras along the corridor to track the birds’ position as they flew around the bend.
The experiment revealed that the flying pigeons produce forces in a surprisingly consistent direction…
