Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum. Here a few creatures are surrounded by as much myth and mystery as the owl. Sometimes they're marked as ominous, portance of death and hardship, sometimes symbols of wisdom and prudence. From ancient texts to modern fantasy movies, owls have captivated us with their fierce hunting capabilities, striking appearance, nocturnal habits, and near silent power of flight across the globe.
Legends developed around them. Some Hindu cultures associate the owl with the goddess Lakshmi and consider it a symbol of luck and prosperity. The Greek goddess of wisdom Athena, offered special protection to the owl as her favorite feathered friend. As a result, many owls lived the acropolis. The stealthy owl was also seen as protector of Greek armies. Owl imagery often decorated warrior's shields, and some said that seeing an owl before a battle signaled a triumph to come.
The Dakota Hidatsa have also viewed the owl as protectors to warriors, but others saw owls as predictors of death. But lore has it that the hoot of an owl announced the death of Julius Caesar, and several Southwestern American native cultures associate owls with ill omens and their calls with impending death. Today, let's look at one of the factors that makes owls so interesting their silent flight. While it adds to owl's mystique, this superpower of sorts serves
a very practical purpose. It helps them sneak up on their prey. It's the design of owl's wings and feathers that allows them to fly in almost absolute silence. The two things that cause the most noise when birds fly are the flapping of their wings and the noise of turbulence as they move through the air. That is the sound of air flowing chaoo over and around their wings. Owls have broad wings with large surface areas that help
them glide through the air without flapping very much. Less flapping makes less noise, and the owl's feathers work to reduce turbulence. An owl's primary feathers, which are the long ones forming the tip of the wing, are serrated like a comb on their leading edge that's the edge facing forward as they fly. This comb like design breaks down
turbulence into smaller currents called microturbulences. Then, the opposite trailing edge of each primary feather has a tattered fringe shape that muffles the sound of air flowing over the wing and shifts the angle at which the air flows. These soft feathers allow air to pass through, which helps eliminate noise. Some reachers think that as the owl flies, these feathers may also shift sound waves created by the owl's wing
to a higher frequency that prey can't hear. The owl's secondary feathers, which are the shorter ones that run from the midwing to the shoulder, are made up of soft fringes that reduce turbulence behind the wings. The trailing feathers on the back end of the wing are also tattered in shape, and the rest of the wing and legs are covered in short, downy feathers. As the owl flies, the trailing fringe in tattered feathers breaks sound waves over
the wings as the air flows over them. The downy feathers absorb any remaining noise created in flight that's above two thousand herts, thus eliminating most sounds that owl's potential prey can hear, So the secret is in the wings. But does this noise reducing design have a place in your next airplane flight? Engineers are always in search of ways to improve aircraft technology, and nature inspires the greatest innovations.
Sometimes called biomimicry. Researchers have looked to the design of owl's wings to reduce use the noise created by aircraft while keeping takeoffs energy efficient. For example, some proposed to the possibility of creating retractable fringe to mirror owls trailing feathers, helping reduce turbulence and noise, and others think that applying a velvety coating on landing gear will absorb noise just
as the downy feathers do on an owl's legs. Airports like O'Hare and Heathrow have strict noise restrictions on aircraft's takeoff. If engineers find a way to reduce noise, more flights could take off every day, and revenue could increase. For an industry struggling with fuel costs and other problems, the wise old owl may provide some solutions. Today's episode is based on the article how can Owls Fly? Silently on
howstuff Works dot com, written by Sarah Winkler. Brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with house toffwork dot com and is produced by Tyler Klang and Ramsey Young. Four more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.