{"670278":{"#nid":"670278","#data":{"type":"external_news","title":"Wing-flapping robot helps explain the evolution of insect flight","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESome insects can\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/2333339-hovering-robots-could-get-more-lift-by-treading-water-in-the-air\/\u0022\u003Eflap their wings\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;so rapidly that it\u2019s impossible for instructions from their brains to entirely control the behaviour. Building tiny flapping robots has helped researchers shed light on how they evolved to do this. For some insects, including mosquitoes, their brain signals and flapping are out of sync. After the initial signal to contract, the insects\u2019 muscles undergo additional contract-relax cycles before they even receive another impulse from the brain. This so-called \u201casynchronous\u201d flight allows them to flap their wings at exceptionally high rates. Several researchers from Georgia Tech set out to \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41586-023-06606-3\u0022\u003Estudy\u003C\/a\u003E the evolutionary history of this form of flight. Those researchers include\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/simon-sponberg\u0022\u003ESimon Sponberg\u003C\/a\u003E, Dunn Family Associate Professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E and the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Science\u003C\/a\u003Es; \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/w2.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/brett-aiello\u0022\u003EBrett Aiello\u003C\/a\u003E, former postdoctoral scholar in Sponberg\u0027s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sponberg.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EAgile Systems Lab\u003C\/a\u003E; \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/ethan-wold-062ab6143\u0022\u003EEthan Wold\u003C\/a\u003E, Ph.D. scholar in the School of Biological Sciences and the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/qbios.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EQuantitative Biosciences Graduate Program\u003C\/a\u003E; and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bioengineering.gatech.edu\/user\/1347\u0022\u003EJeff Gau\u003C\/a\u003E, Ph.D. scholar in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E and the Interdisciplinary Bioengineering Graduate Program.\u0026nbsp;(This research was also covered at \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/indiaeducationdiary.in\/robots-aid-in-understanding-the-evolution-of-two-distinct-insect-flight-strategies\/\u0022\u003EIndia Education Diary\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/science\/2023\/10\/scientists-combine-evolution-physics-and-robotics-to-decode-insect-flight\/\u0022\u003EArsTechnica\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/today.ucsd.edu\/story\/these-robots-helped-understand-how-insects-evolved-two-distinct-strategies-of-flight\u0022\u003EUC San Diego\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.earth.com\/news\/amazing-fact-insect-wings-flap-faster-than-their-brain-speed-can-command\/\u0022\u003EEarth.com\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2023-10-insects-evolved-ultrafast-flight.html\u0022\u003EPhys.org.\u003C\/a\u003E)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESome insects can\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/2333339-hovering-robots-could-get-more-lift-by-treading-water-in-the-air\/\u0022\u003Eflap their wings\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;so rapidly that it\u2019s impossible for instructions from their brains to entirely control the behaviour. Building tiny flapping robots has helped researchers shed light on how they evolved to do this. For some insects, including mosquitoes, their brain signals and flapping are out of sync. After the initial signal to contract, the insects\u2019 muscles undergo additional contract-relax cycles before they even receive another impulse from the brain. This so-called \u201casynchronous\u201d flight allows them to flap their wings at exceptionally high rates. Several researchers from Georgia Tech set out to \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41586-023-06606-3\u0022\u003Estudy\u003C\/a\u003E the evolutionary history of this form of flight. Those researchers include\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/simon-sponberg\u0022\u003ESimon Sponberg\u003C\/a\u003E, Dunn Family Associate Professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E and the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Science\u003C\/a\u003Es; \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/w2.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/brett-aiello\u0022\u003EBrett Aiello\u003C\/a\u003E, former postdoctoral scholar in Sponberg\u0027s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sponberg.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EAgile Systems Lab\u003C\/a\u003E; \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/ethan-wold-062ab6143\u0022\u003EEthan Wold\u003C\/a\u003E, Ph.D. scholar in the School of Biological Sciences and the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/qbios.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EQuantitative Biosciences Graduate Program\u003C\/a\u003E; and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bioengineering.gatech.edu\/user\/1347\u0022\u003EJeff Gau\u003C\/a\u003E, Ph.D. scholar in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E and the Interdisciplinary Bioengineering Graduate Program. (This research was also covered at \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/indiaeducationdiary.in\/robots-aid-in-understanding-the-evolution-of-two-distinct-insect-flight-strategies\/\u0022\u003EIndia Education Diary\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/science\/2023\/10\/scientists-combine-evolution-physics-and-robotics-to-decode-insect-flight\/\u0022\u003EArsTechnica\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/today.ucsd.edu\/story\/these-robots-helped-understand-how-insects-evolved-two-distinct-strategies-of-flight\u0022\u003EUC San Diego\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.earth.com\/news\/amazing-fact-insect-wings-flap-faster-than-their-brain-speed-can-command\/\u0022\u003EEarth.com\u003C\/a\u003E and\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2023-10-insects-evolved-ultrafast-flight.html\u0022\u003EPhys.org.\u003C\/a\u003E)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"34434","created_gmt":"2023-10-06 20:08:48","changed_gmt":"2023-10-16 16:05:35","author":"Renay San Miguel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","publication":"New Scientist ","field_article_url":"","publication_url":"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/2395779-wing-flapping-robot-helps-explain-the-evolution-of-insect-flight\/","dateline":{"date":"2023-10-04T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2023-10-04T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"166882","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"190691","name":"Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Quantitative Biosciences"},{"id":"170414","name":"Simon Sponberg"},{"id":"190072","name":"Brett Aiello"},{"id":"193139","name":"Ethan Wold"},{"id":"193140","name":"Jeff Lau"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}