Bats save energy by drawing in wings on upstroke: study
Tuesday, April 10, 2012 - 18:00
in Physics & Chemistry
(Phys.org) -- Bat wings are like hands: meaty, bony and full of joints. A new Brown University study finds that bats take advantage of their flexibility by folding in their wings on the upstroke to save inertial energy. The research suggests that engineers looking at flapping flight should account for wing mass and consider a folding design.