How studying bats' flight technique could lead to drone development

Long-eared bats are assisted in flight by their ears and body, according to a study by researchers at Lund University in Sweden. The recent findings improve researchers’ understanding of the bats’ flying technique and could be significant for the future development of drones, among other things.Contrary to what researchers have previously thought, Christoffer Johansson Westheim and his colleagues at Lund University show that long-eared bats are helped in flight by their large ears.

“We show how the air behind the body of a long-eared bat accelerates downwards, which means that the body and ears provide lift. This distinguishes the long-eared bats from other species that have been studied and indicates that the large ears do not merely create strong resistance, but also assist the animal in staying aloft”, says Christoffer Johansson Westheim-read more and see video