Everybody who has ever made a paper airplane and been disappointed as it spins out of control, crashing to the ground, knows how tricky achieving suitable trim and stability for gliding can be. But, somehow, wiggling flying snakes glide without tumbling.
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References
Durston, N. E. Quantifying the Flight Stability of Free-Gliding Birds of Prey. PhD Thesis, Univ. Bristol (2019); https://go.nature.com/2BEXZ8U
Usherwood, J. R. et al. J. Exp. Biol. 223, 214809 (2020).
Yeaton, I. et al. Nat. Phys. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-020-0935-4 (2020).
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Usherwood, J. Stable gliding by undulating snakes. Nat. Phys. 16, 905–906 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-020-0959-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-020-0959-9
