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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Watch the video footage here: </span></font><a
href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24149440">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24149440</a><o:p></o:p></p>
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12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<h1 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:25.5pt;background:white'><b><font
size=5 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black;letter-spacing:-.75pt'>Bumblebee flight inspires 'bad weather
robot' design<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=byline-name><span style='text-rendering: optimizelegibility'><b><font
size=4 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black;border:dotted black 1.0pt;padding:8.0pt;background:white;
font-weight:bold'><span style='orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: auto;
-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;overflow:auto;word-spacing:0px'>By Victoria Gill</span></span></font></b></span><span
class=byline-title><font size=2 color=black><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
color:black;border:dotted black 1.0pt;padding:8.0pt;background:white'>Science
reporter, BBC News</span></span></font></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=introduction style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt;
background:white'><b><font size=4 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>Scientists
are studying the flight of the bumblebee in an effort to work out how the
insects manage to remain steady in adverse weather conditions.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white;
text-rendering: auto;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
word-spacing:0px'><font size=4 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
13.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Dr Sridhar Ravi, from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Harvard</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>,
filmed bumblebees as they flew in a wind tunnel.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white;
text-rendering: auto;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
word-spacing:0px'><font size=4 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
13.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>This enabled Dr Ravi and his team to
control the airflow the bees had to contend with.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white;
text-rendering: auto;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
word-spacing:0px'><font size=4 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
13.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>The researchers say their study could aid
the design of "micro air vehicles" that remain stable in bad weather.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white;
text-rendering: auto;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
word-spacing:0px'><font size=4 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
13.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>They explained<span
class=apple-converted-space> </span><a
href="http://jeb.biologists.org/content/early/2013/09/05/jeb.090845.abstract?cited-by=yes&legid=jexbio;jeb.090845v1"
title="Journal of Experimental Biology: Rolling with the flow: Bumblebees flying in unsteady wakes"><b><font
color="#4a7194"><span style='color:#4A7194;font-weight:bold'>in a paper in the
Journal of Experimental Biology</span></font></b></a><span
class=apple-converted-space> </span>that they had studied bumblebees
because they were "all-weather foragers".<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white;
text-rendering: auto;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
word-spacing:0px'><font size=4 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
13.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Dr Ravi told BBC News: "As we have
all experienced, the wind speed and direction outdoors can be very variable,
[so] maintaining stable flight can be extremely challenging.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white;
text-rendering: auto;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
word-spacing:0px'><font size=4 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
13.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>"The best micro air vehicles [with a
wingspan of less than 25cm (10in)] available today struggle to fly stably when
there is even in a light breeze.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white;
text-rendering: auto;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
word-spacing:0px'><font size=4 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
13.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>"Yet, insects seem to be capable of
flying even in extreme wind conditions."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white;
text-rendering: auto;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
word-spacing:0px'><font size=4 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
13.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Using a wind tunnel allowed the
researchers to recreate these conditions.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white;
text-rendering: auto;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
word-spacing:0px'><font size=4 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
13.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>They filmed the bees using high-speed
cameras in order to replay their flight in very slow motion and discover how
the insects adjusted their flight according to the airflow.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white;
text-rendering: auto;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
word-spacing:0px'><font size=4 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
13.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>This footage revealed that the bees
reduced their speed in unsteady winds, which seemed to allow them to expend
more energy correcting their flight path.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white;
text-rendering: auto;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
word-spacing:0px'><font size=4 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
13.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>"The bumblebees also seemed to be
more susceptible to disturbances that pushed them sideways as opposed to up and
down," explained Dr Ravi.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white;
text-rendering: auto;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
word-spacing:0px'><font size=4 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
13.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>"The bees rolled considerably to
change course and correct for the disturbances induced by the wind."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white;
text-rendering: auto;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
word-spacing:0px'><font size=4 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
13.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>The scientist said that a better
understanding of how natural flyers contended with turbulent wind would help
"immensely" in the design of micro air vehicles that flew in adverse
weather.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white;
text-rendering: auto;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
word-spacing:0px'><font size=4 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
13.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>He added: "We are currently
conducting more experiments including flying other insects in similar wind
conditions and identifying the influence of pollen and/or honey on the flight
stability in the bees."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Sunny Boyd</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
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