Bird plus goggles equals new insight into flight physics
Unexpected vortices form in parrotlet’s wing wake
![Pacific parrotlet in laser goggles](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/120516_ec_bird-vortices_main.jpg?fit=860%2C460&ssl=1)
SAFETY FIRST To study the air flow produced when birds fly, scientists trained a Pacific parrotlet named Obi (above) to fly through laser light. To protect the bird’s eyes, custom-made laser goggles were a necessary precaution.
E. Gutierrez/Lentink Lab/Stanford Univ.