The Stokes-flow parachute of the dandelion fruit
14 mins 36 secs,
55.88 MB,
iPod Video
480x270,
29.97 fps,
44100 Hz,
522.6 kbits/sec
Share this media item:
Embed this media item:
Embed this media item:
About this item
| Description: |
Cummins, C
Monday 18th September 2017 - 14:10 to 14:30 |
|---|
| Created: | 2017-09-19 12:55 |
|---|---|
| Collection: | Growth form and self-organisation |
| Publisher: | Isaac Newton Institute |
| Copyright: | Cummins, C |
| Language: | eng (English) |
| Distribution: |
World
(downloadable)
|
| Explicit content: | No |
| Aspect Ratio: | 16:9 |
| Screencast: | No |
| Bumper: | UCS Default |
| Trailer: | UCS Default |
| Abstract: | Cathal Cummins1, 2, 3 ,a)
Ignazio Maria Viola1, b) Maddy Seale2,3,4 Daniele Certini1 Alice Macente2 Enrico Mastropaolo4 Naomi Nakayama2, 3, 5, c) 1) Institute for Energy Systems School of Engineering University of Edinburgh, EH9 3DW 2) Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences School of Biological Sciences University of Edinburgh, EH9 3BF 3) SynthSys Centre for Systems and Synthetic Biology School of Biological Sciences University of Edinburgh, EH9 3BF 4) Institute for Integrated Micro and Nano Systems Scottish Microelectronics Centre School of Engineering University of Edinburgh, EH9 3FF 5) Centre for Science at Extreme Conditions School of Biological Sciences University of Edinburgh, EH9 3BF a) Electronic mail: Cathal.Cummins@ed.ac.uk b) Electronic mail: I.M.Viola@ed.ac.uk c)Electronic mail: Naomi.Nakayama@ed.ac.uk The fluid mechanical principles that allow a passenger jet to lift off the ground are not applicable to the flight of small plant fruit (the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants). The reason for this is scaling: human flight requires very large Reynolds numbers, while plant fruit have comparatively small Reynolds numbers. At this small scale, there are a variety of modes of flight available to fruit: from parachuting to gliding and autorotation. In this talk, I will focus on the aerodynamics of small plumed fruit (dandelions) that utilise the parachuting mode of flight. If a parachute-type fruit is picked up by the breeze, it can be carried over formidable distances. Incredibly, these parachutes are mostly empty space, yet they are effectively impervious to the airflow as they descend. In addition, the fruit can become more or less streamlined depending on the environmental conditions. In this talk, I will present results from our numerical and physical modelling that demonstrate how these parachutes achieve such impermeability despite their high porosity. We explore the form and function of the filamentous building blocks of this parachute, which confer the fruit's incredible flight capacity. |
|---|---|
Available Formats
| Format | Quality | Bitrate | Size | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MPEG-4 Video | 640x360 | 1.93 Mbits/sec | 212.43 MB | View | Download | |
| WebM | 640x360 | 495.79 kbits/sec | 53.08 MB | View | Download | |
| iPod Video * | 480x270 | 522.6 kbits/sec | 55.88 MB | View | Download | |
| MP3 | 44100 Hz | 249.89 kbits/sec | 26.75 MB | Listen | Download | |
| Auto | (Allows browser to choose a format it supports) | |||||