MIT solves gravity-defying bird beak mystery
Thursday, May 15, 2008 - 21:21
in Paleontology & Archaeology
As Charles Darwin showed nearly 150 years ago, bird beaks are exquisitely adapted to the birds' feeding strategy. A team of MIT mathematicians and engineers has now explained exactly how some shorebirds use their long, thin beaks to defy gravity and transport food into their mouths.