Post Contenthttps://www.youtube.com/shorts/NJSnqP_ds9w
Many species of dinosaur evolved wings long before they used them to fly. Scientists have speculated that these early structures may have helped the animals do everything from attract mates to protect hatchlings. But this robot dinosaur suggests a far different purpose.
“Robopteryx” is a peacock-size machine with paper wings modeled after Caudipteryx, a winged, flightless dino that lived 124 million years ago. Researchers hypothesize that Caudipteryx’s wings, too weak to take it skyward, were used to help it hunt.
Similar to modern-day birds like the painted whitestart, Robopteryx uses a strategy called “flush-pursuit”: sneaking up on a group of bugs and flashing its plumage, startling insects into the open. In 2024, the scientists brought the robot to public paths frequented by grasshoppers. When the robot opened its protowings with feathers attached, 93% of grasshoppers tested fled away from it, the team reported in Scientific Reports. When the feathered wings were absent, only 47% of the insects leapt away.
The team hypothesized that as this foraging strategy proved successful, dinosaurs would have evolved ever larger feathers that would have eventually been capable of flight.
Learn more: https://scim.ag/3RmUA5A
FOOTAGE CREDIT: JINSEOK PARK, PIOTR JABLONSKI ET AL.
#Technology #Science #ScienceShorts Read More Science Magazine
#sciencechannel
#science
