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Judi Lynn

(160,545 posts)
Sat Jun 16, 2018, 01:19 AM Jun 2018

Spiders Can Fly: This Is How And When They Take Off


15 June 2018, 10:19 pm EDT By Athena Yenko Tech Times

Scientists figure out the step-by-step process involved when the spiders float in the wind in search for food or for a new home.

Many spiders, big or small, engaged in a behavior called "ballooning" where they tend to fly on the wind for hundreds of kilometers to search for a mate or find another place to colonize. While ballooning has been a subject of numerous scientific studies before, the current study dissected how exactly the spiders take off from their point of origin.

The study, conducted by Moonsung Cho, an aerodynamics engineer from the Technical University of Berlin, found that spiders actually strategize before "flying." They can even determine the condition of the wind favorable for the activity.

The study is said to be the first detailed analysis of ballooning. In the future, their insights could help aerodynamics experts in designing important flying devices.

More:
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/230291/20180615/spiders-can-fly-this-is-how-and-when-they-take-off.htm
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