> this duck is literally just paddling air with his wings
Grossly speaking, sure. But I feel like this simplifies away a lot of the interesting bits. It's not as simple as, say, someone on a canoe paddling. Why is the duck's wing shaped just so, and not another way? Why does it move its wings just so instead of another way?
I'm reminded of an analysis of fruit fly wings, showing how they re-capture energy from the air when flapping[1]. Maybe the duck is doing similar; I don't know.
Of course, these animals make it look easy, thanks to millions of years of evolution (:
Grossly speaking, sure. But I feel like this simplifies away a lot of the interesting bits. It's not as simple as, say, someone on a canoe paddling. Why is the duck's wing shaped just so, and not another way? Why does it move its wings just so instead of another way?
I'm reminded of an analysis of fruit fly wings, showing how they re-capture energy from the air when flapping[1]. Maybe the duck is doing similar; I don't know.
Of course, these animals make it look easy, thanks to millions of years of evolution (:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-86359-z