Robotic aircraft of the future, used for reconnaissance or communication, may need to rely on wing morphing, a trick mastered ages ago by birds for long flights. By measuring how ultraversatile swifts morph their wings to double their gliding time or triple their turn rate, researchers have given both biologists and engineers a greater understanding of the secrets of efficient flight.
Category Archives: Formats
Tasty Travels
I conducted a travel experiment recently. Everywhere I go, people make suggestions on what to see, which I usually politely ignore. (“Oh, England? You must see the hedgerows! Spain? Don’t miss Barcelona! Kyrgyzstan? Where’s that?)
See the original [pdf] or read the story behind the story here… Continue reading Tasty Travels
Spain & Portugal 2007
I spent a summer crossing the Pyrenees and the Picos de Europa in northern Spain, sacrificing sleep and stripping my rental car’s clutch all in the name of improving Let’s Go’s travel guidebooks.
It was a summer of pastoral mountain scenery, hitchhiking with hippies and undercover police, and yes, the Sanfermines in Pamplona.
I didn’t know it then, but my summer jobs researching and writing budget travel guidebooks would morph into my full-time career as a freelance writer.
Northern Borkoldoy, first ascents
The Harvard Mountaineering Club, celebrating its 80th anniversary, sent a team of 8 climbers to the northwestern region of the Borkoldoy.
Read the original [pdf] or read the story behind the story here…
This was the formal blurb summarizing the expeditions results for the American Alpine Journal. My teammates and I posted a more complete record at borkoldoy.harvardmountaineering.org and I also wrote a more personal narrative [pdf] about the expedition for Harvard Mountaineering.