I saw that yesterday, quite interesting. We looked into some bird stuff
when I was in kawledge, always fascinating to see nature's (intelligent)
designs.
I was on the farm once some years ago, went out for a stroll late one
night and there was a big owl sitting on top of the barn. I stopped and
stood there and watched it a few minutes while it watched me. I decided
to head back in and as I was walking back it flew right over my
shoulder, wings almost touched my head, and I could not hear it a bit.
(WHOA that was a surprise!) It was pretty cool, I probably had stirred
up a mouse or something, it flew right down to the ground in front of me
but did not grab anything.
There is a place here called the Center for Birds of Prey that rescues
injured birds and rehabilitates them. Some can't go back to the wild so
they keep them and go our and do demonstrations here and there. I have
been to a few and one time they had a big owl, when it flew you couldn't
hear it either but the hawks and eagles made a fair amount of whooshing
noises.
--R
On 6/23/15 10:31 AM, Andrew Strasfogel via Mercedes wrote:
I found this very cool.
Want quieter wind farms? Owls may have the answer
Monday, 22 Jun 2015 | 9:06 AM ETCNBC.com
From computer fans to wind turbines, fan blades are commonplace, but
there's no denying they can be noisy. Now, a team of researchers at the
University of Cambridge have said help may be on hand -- from a feathered
friend.
By studying the wing structure of owls, the researchers have designed a
material that shows "substantial" signs of noise reduction, and could make
fan blades much quieter in years to come.
[image: CAN55_Location_FOA_11]
Ian Evenden/PhotoPlus Magazine | Future | Getty Images
Early tests of the prototype coating -- made of 3D-printed plastic --
revealed that noise from wind turbine blades was reduced by 10 decibels,
without any signs of an impact on aerodynamics.
This is not a major noise reduction, but the researchers stressed that if
it was used in wind farms, turbines could run at higher speeds without
creating any extra noise, therefore producing more energy.
Read MoreHow your feet can light up a street
<http://www.cnbc.com/id/102759873>
Owls are known for their stealthy predatory skills, and scientists have
attributed this to their silent flying skills. It was because of this that
the University of Cambridge, along with three U.S. institutions, used
high-resolution microscopy to examine the structure of owl wings and their
feathers to see if it could be replicated.
"Much of the noise caused by a wing – whether it's attached to a bird, a
plane or a fan – originates at the trailing edge where the air passing over
the wing surface is turbulent," lead researcher, Professor Nigel Peake,
said in a statement.
"The structure of an owl's wing serves to reduce noise by smoothing the
passage of air as it passes over the wing – scattering the sound so their
prey can't hear them coming."
Read MoreRenewable power will overtake coal if pledges kept
<http://www.cnbc.com/id/102759547>
The scientists designed their own coating, which "scatters" sound like owls
do. The next stage is to apply the coating on a large-scale functioning
turbine and potentially even aeroplanes – although the researchers conceded
this would be "far more complicated."
Virginia Tech, Lehigh and Florida Atlantic Universities worked with the
University of Cambridge on the research, which was funded by the U.S.
Office of Naval Research and U.S. National Science Foundation.
Read MoreCheck out this bar, it's a hoot! <http://www.cnbc.com/id/102451128>
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