You have all probably heard the statement “when pigs fly”, but have you heard “when snakes fly”? That’s right, snakes can fly, well, they actually glide. Scientists have discovered a strange species of snakes located in Southeast Asia, India, and southern China that can glide. You have heard children say, ‘Look mom, no hands’. Well these snakes have neither wings, nor wing like appendages, to help them glide. How do the snakes do this? The Department of Defense would like to know and so they are funding Virginia Tech to research this amazing feat.
The snakes will climb the biggest trees in the area (about 200 ft.), take a flying leap, and glide to a spot about 780 ft. away. While in the air, they undulate from side to side to create an aerodynamic system. Their whole body becomes one long wing. They can even turn in the air. Humans are trying to discover the technology to fly without wings or create a flying machine that is all wing. When we study snakes, they truly give God the glory.
Richard Stepanek
Source:
“DOD tries to uncover secret of flying snakes” by Mark Kaufman – Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 22, 2010; 11:37 PM
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