Why birds never crash into each other?
Q. To which direction do birds always veer to avoid collision as part of a fly-safe instinct?- Published on 03 Oct 16a. Left
b. Right
c. Centre
d. Back
ANSWER: Left
Research may have discovered why birds never seem to crash into one another - they appear to always veer to the right.
- Just like cars drive on the right of the road to avoid collisions, avian creatures were found to turn the same way when they find they are on a collision course.
- Discovering the "basic rules" of safe flying that have evolved in birds over millions of years could help program drones to avoid collisions as the skies become more crowded.
- The scientific modelling has shown that birds always veer right - and sometimes they change their altitude as well, according to some pre-set preference. As air traffic becomes increasing busy, there is a pressing need for robust automatic systems for manned and unmanned aircraft, so there are real lessons to be learned from nature.
- 2 budgies were released at opposite ends of a tunnel and their flight path was filmed by a high-speed camera.
- In more than 100 flights by 10 different birds, there was not a single crash.
- Another finding was that birds would rarely fly at the same height, and this raises the question of whether individual birds have a specific preference for flying higher or lower
- Same strategy can be used for drones and autopilots.
