----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, December 05, 2005 6:08
AM
Subject: Re: OT: Secrets of bee flight
revealed
Sticking my lurker's head above the
parapet may I comment on the flight of the butterfly.
This has always fascinated me, and
Richard's observations have triggered some hopefully useful
thoughts.
What if the wings are the sensors of
IR from the various vortices in the air movement as well as small variations
in the local velocity dynamics? Might it also be within the realms of
possibility that the patternation of the wing serves more than mating
attraction, but also an electro-cellular function. Their wing
action is very stop and go which might be useful for direction-finding while
the wings are stationary in flight.
Having watched the recent
BBC series by Richard Attenborough on "Life in the undergrowth"; the
extraordinary capabilities of the minutest life-forms with almost zero brain
volume stirs the imagination to extreme limits.
Norman Horwood Berkshire
UK
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, December 05, 2005 4:27
AM
Subject: Re: OT: Secrets of bee flight
revealed
The flight of the butterfly is every bit as interesting as the bee.
They appear to " flutter" from flower to flower. Watching closely, they
appear to be directionless in flight, yet wind up where they are going. As
they flutter in an seeming aimless way, they can change their speed and
direction at an amazing rate.
In our research studies in liquid vortex I have mentioned the formation
of vortices shed off the main "rope". These vortices are short lived yet
traverse the width and depth of the glass test tank. Some are vertical,
diagonal and horizontal. They can be tracked using a thermister sensor since
they produce a heat source.
I have often watched the grassland pasture at our ranch. The wind
undulates the grass in waves. This undulation is caused by horizontal wind
vortexes. Butterflys can fly in these winds and reach flowers as they
select. How can this be possible when the body weight and wing area doesn't
make sense for flight, much less guidance? The answer may be found
in some of Schauberger's papers that describe how a fish can climb a
waterfall. The fish finds the reverse vortex inside the "rope" and is
partially " catapulted up the "rope".
This would explain the butterfly's ability to fly against a wind
and end up at the next flower. It would explain why the butterfly's
speed and direction can change instantly. The butterfly could have
sensors that detect the random wind vortexes and uses the vortex energy and
position for direction and movement like the fish in waterfall. Pity we
can't "see" wind vortexes, perhaps all birds can.
Richard
