First Human-Powered Ornithopter 250
spasm writes "A University of Toronto engineering graduate student has made and successfully flown a human-powered flapping-wing aircraft. From the article: 'Todd Reichert, a PhD candidate at the university's Institute of Aerospace Studies, piloted the wing-flapping aircraft, sustaining both altitude and airspeed for 19.3 seconds and covering a distance of 145 metres at an average speed of 25.6 kilometres per hour.'"
The Spice... (Score:5, Funny)
Just in time... (Score:5, Funny)
Just in time for Yueh to leave us a pair of stillsuits in the back. The article doesn't mention if it's big enough to lift a spice harvester however.
Oh a million deaths are not enough for Yueh!
The things grad students will do... (Score:5, Funny)
On Ornithopters (Score:5, Funny)
Atreides, Paul Atreides
He's the greatest man in history
On the planet Arrakis
He'll kill Harkonnen and make the Fremen free
Potential Customer (Score:4, Funny)
Potential Customer: Ryanair.
Re:Why Still Pursuing This? (Score:5, Funny)
No crap on a car windshield? (Score:5, Funny)
In order to win the Ornithopter X-Prize, you need to flap and stay in the air long enough to drop your pants, and take a crap on a car windshield.
Now that would really prove that man can build a machine that enables man to emulate bird behavior.
Re:Why Still Pursuing This? (Score:5, Funny)
What I want to know is why it's always college kids who are doing the cool stuff in /. stories. It really sends the wrong message that centers of elitist liberal brainwashing are somehow related to innovation when we all know that it's the hardworking, individualistic, ambitious types upon whom all progress depends.
Re:Why Still Pursuing This? (Score:4, Funny)
Speaking as this guy's former roommate, one of the draws for him was that the aerodynamics and mechanics of flapping wing flight was not fully understood.
The science here is understanding aerodynamics to the point that a human-scaled device can be built.
I would like to see his paintings.
Re:On Ornithopters (Score:5, Funny)
I see you've bought into all the government propaganda about Paul Atreides.
FACT: Paul Atreides isn't a true Fremen. Why haven't we seen his birth certificate? I'll tell you why, he wasn't even born on Arrakis.
FACT: Paul Atreides is a secret Harkonnen. He cares more about loss of spice harvesting equipment than the lives of people. That doesn't sound like an Atreides to me.
FACT: Paul Atreides has a huge ego. He thinks he's some kind of messiah.
FACT: Paul Atreides's mother dabbles in witchcraft. She claims that she's no longer a witch, but do we really believe that?
FACT: Paul Atreides regularly cheats on his wife. The only reason he's still married is because it would hurt him politically to end the marriage.
Yeah, he makes big promises about making Arrakis more green, but what how can we trust him?
Re:Why Still Pursuing This? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Why Still Pursuing This? (Score:1, Funny)
You mean this breakthrough enables the robo-swallows to carry loads the size of a coconut over large distances?
Re:Why Still Pursuing This? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Why Still Pursuing This? (Score:3, Funny)
A popular military joke is that the CH-47 Chinook doesn't fly, it just beats the air into submission.