NEW SCIENTIST: Maths explains how bees can stay airborne with such tiny wings

  • Mostafa Nabawy

    Press/Media: Research

    Description

    We first realised that bees seem to flout the laws of mathematics in the 1930s. Calculations showed that their wings could not provide enough lift to get their bodies off the ground, but that didn’t stop them.

    “The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don’t care what humans think is impossible,” says the narrator at the beginning of 2007’s Bee Movie.

    Now a new mathematical analysis has put together a complete picture of how bees, as well as other insects and small birds, actually manage to fly.

    Period25 Jul 2017

    Media contributions

    1

    Media contributions

    • TitleMaths explains how bees can stay airborne with such tiny wings
      Media name/outletNew Scientist
      Media typeWeb
      Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
      Date25/07/17
      DescriptionWe first realised that bees seem to flout the laws of mathematics in the 1930s. Calculations showed that their wings could not provide enough lift to get their bodies off the ground, but that didn’t stop them.

      “The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don’t care what humans think is impossible,” says the narrator at the beginning of 2007’s Bee Movie.

      Now a new mathematical analysis has put together a complete picture of how bees, as well as other insects and small birds, actually manage to fly.
      URLhttps://www.newscientist.com/article/2141802-maths-explains-how-bees-can-stay-airborne-with-such-tiny-wings/
      PersonsMostafa Nabawy
    View all 1
    View less

    Keywords

    • mathematics
    • bees
    • animal flight
    • aerodynamics

    Related content