New Atlas

Science Audio available

Batwinged, feathered dinosaur was a weird, failed experiment in flight

Michael Irving May 8, 2019

Like the Wright Brothers, evolution didn’t get flight exactly right the first time. It takes experimentation to find the best design, and now palaeontologists have found one of nature’s quirky side projects – a strange dinosaur that was covered in feathers but had leathery bat-like wings.

Ambopteryx longibrachium is a strange new species of dinosaur that sported bat-like wings and feathers

Science Audio available

Robot dinosaurs help unlock the evolution of flight

Michael Irving May 3, 2019

On the timeline of the evolution of flight in birds, gliding seems like a logical first step. But new research suggests that some species could have made the jump straight to flapping flight without a gliding phase in the meantime, which could force a rewrite of our understanding of avian evolution.

A robotic Caudipteryx demonstrates how a running motion may have caused the proto-wings to flap, eventually ...

Robotics Audio available

Meet Leonardo, the walking, jumping, flying robot

Michael Irving January 22, 2019

Traditionally, robots are either airborne or landlubbers – there’s not much crossover. But researchers at Northeastern University have now built a robot that can do both, walking around on two legs before jumping and flying short distances to get over obstacles in its path.

Science

Flying spiders are tapping into global electric fields for takeoff

Michael Irving July 9, 2018

It’s long been thought that spiders were "ballooning" on silk parachutes thanks to the wind picking them up, but a new study has found that the creatures are actually making use of atmospheric electric fields instead.

Researchers at the University of Bristol have found that spiders get airborne thanks to electric fields

Aircraft

10 of the most beautiful airplanes from the history of aviation

James Holloway May 15, 2018

They're environmentally damaging, and can be frighteningly lethal – by accident, or by design. But they are also things of beauty. Here are 10 of the best examples of aeronautical artistry in history.

New Atlas takes a look at some of history's most beautiful airplanes

Telecommunications

Chrome extension speeds up in-flight browsing

Darren Quick March 16, 2017

Airline passengers browsing the web using in-flight Wi-Fi might be forgiven for thinking they've stepped back in time to the age of dial-up. But now a team at Northwestern University has developed an extension for the Chrome browser that significantly speeds up page loading in the air.

The ScaleUp extension for Google's Chrome browser can speed up page loading using in-flight Wi-Fi

Robotics

Caltech's bat-inspired robot stretches its wings

Michael Irving February 1, 2017

Engineers at Caltech and the UIUC have developed the Bat Bot, a robotic bat with soft, flappable wings that could not only make for a safer alternative to keeping drones aloft with spinning blades, but also teach scientists more about the mechanics at work in natural bat flight.

Researchers at Caltech and UIUC have developed the Bat Bot, a robot that mimics the complex ...

Sports

Successful wind tunnel testing brings flying wakeboard closer to takeoff

Nick Lavars July 20, 2016

The Wingboard, designed to place riders behind a plane so they can wakeboard through the sky, has just successfully completed its first wind tunnel flight testing, edging the creator closer to his lifelong dream of recreating the cloudsurfing bear cub from the Disney series Talespin.

The team evaluated the board's performance over four hours of flight

Aircraft

Beyond first class: United adding fold-out beds and other luxuries to select flights

Stu Robarts June 6, 2016

Business class passengers flying with United Airlines will soon be able to enjoy a newly spruced-up experience in not just the aircraft cabin, but the airport lounge too. The United Polaris premium lounge and cabin are aimed at providing serene environments to leave passengers feeling well rested.

The "herring-line" cabin configuration mixes in-line seats with angled seats

Aircraft

Virgin Australia's new business class cabins are terrific over the Pacific

Stu Robarts May 18, 2016

Perhaps the key to good long-haul aircraft cabin design is to make passengers forget that they're stuck in a long-haul aircraft cabin. Virgin Australia's new International Business Class cabin may help to do that, with queen-length beds, 18-in HD screens and and a bar at which to booze and schmooze.

The new cabin layout is being installed on Virgin Australia's fleet of Boeing 777-300ER aircraft