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Joined: Mar 2008
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![[Linked Image]](http://columbia.lib.muohio.edu/ies/images/MP_Swift_flies_overhead.jpg) Creation-Evolution Headlines is one of the best resources on the whole internet. The topic of the little birds called 'swifts' caught my attention. Swifts Don’t Just Dream of Flying... 04/29/2007
...they fly while dreaming. Did you know that swifts, the aerial acrobats of the air, sleep on the wing? That’s not all, they adapt their wing shape to turn on a dime. Science Daily summarized the cover story of Nature this week (April 26) that examined “wing morphing” in swifts – their ability to change wing shape in flight. Swifts live almost their entire life airborne. They do not land to eat, drink, or sleep. Imagine! I'm tempted to re-evaluate whether swallows should remain my favourite bird. SD article on swifts says The scientists figured all this out when they measured just how much lift and drag a swift wing generates. The wings were tested to their limit in a windtunnel at speeds of up to 108 km/h (30 metres per second).Scientists compared extended and swept wings, and learnt that flying slowly with extended wings gives swifts maximum flight efficiency. But swept wings deliver a better aerodynamic performance for flying fast and straight. Swept wings are also better for fast and tight turns; but this time swept wings are better because they do not break as easily as extended wings. It's not the newest of news, of course, that long, narrow wings are best for gliding. But some readers might recall an earlier discussion of bats, where it was erroneously asserted that short, stubby wings are better-suited for gliding. ![[Linked Image]](http://www.fallingpixel.com/products/153/mains/nimbus.jpg) ![[Linked Image]](http://www.soaringclub.org/Michonne_in_the_glider.jpg) ![[Linked Image]](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_NSJHITf-yrc/SgrSXdyfljI/AAAAAAAAAuE/BUOB865IInc/s1600/glider.jpg) I must also recommend Photos of Swifts
Dark Matter + Dark Energy = Dark Truth"We find that such evidence demonstrates that the ID argument is dependent upon setting a scientifically unreasonable burden of proof for the theory of evolution." - Judge Jones Kitzmiller case http://www.talkreason.org/articles/Falsify.cfm"To Compel A Man To Furnish Funds For The Propagation Of Ideas He Disbelieves And Abhors Is Sinful And Tyrannical." - Thomas Jefferson "And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath?" - Thomas Jefferson
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 1,315
Master Elite Member
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I missed this the first time through Swifts, when forced to land on the ground, cannot take off by themselves and will starve unless a kind and timely passer-by throws them in the air.
Dark Matter + Dark Energy = Dark Truth"We find that such evidence demonstrates that the ID argument is dependent upon setting a scientifically unreasonable burden of proof for the theory of evolution." - Judge Jones Kitzmiller case http://www.talkreason.org/articles/Falsify.cfm"To Compel A Man To Furnish Funds For The Propagation Of Ideas He Disbelieves And Abhors Is Sinful And Tyrannical." - Thomas Jefferson "And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath?" - Thomas Jefferson
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 1,315
Master Elite Member
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Some sources I'm seeing are disputing the idea that swifts sleep while flying. There hasn't really been very much research on the subject. Might look at http://news.softpedia.com/news/Can-Birds-Sleep-While-in-Flight-74549.shtmlFrom appearances, they do sleep. I'm not confident there's enough evidence to conclusively prove it just yet, however. So far, my impression is that those who know the birds best are not the ones doing the doubting. Despite having had a hip replacement, Mr Overall, 76, regularly scales the ladders which lead to the top of the tower, where the birds nest in boxes behind the ventilation openings.
His knowledge of swifts' lives is encyclopaedic – from their ability to sleep, and even mate, on the wing, to the chicks' ability to endure hunger and cold for far longer than other birds.
Dark Matter + Dark Energy = Dark Truth"We find that such evidence demonstrates that the ID argument is dependent upon setting a scientifically unreasonable burden of proof for the theory of evolution." - Judge Jones Kitzmiller case http://www.talkreason.org/articles/Falsify.cfm"To Compel A Man To Furnish Funds For The Propagation Of Ideas He Disbelieves And Abhors Is Sinful And Tyrannical." - Thomas Jefferson "And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath?" - Thomas Jefferson
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