Why don't I have wings?

[md65536]

i could put a program together that would monitor activity in the context in order to produce a probable output (such as flapping the wings).

I don't think success is impossible, but I don't think it's likely either. Many people have failed at trying to make flapping wings over a few hundred years probably.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornithopter#Manned_flight

Note the deaths and injuries...

 

If you're serious about doing this I think you must do a lot of research into what's been done and succeeded, and what's failed. Expect years or decades of hard work to make incremental advancements over what's already done, realizing that the best that's been done so far was accomplished by teams with engineering and aeronautics expertise, which you'll need too.

 

Personally I think that if you could have wings that were at all functional, their main function would be gliding. But there are gliding wings that also flap to provide thrust:

Edited February 26, 2013 by md65536

[Popcorn Sutton]

Wow cool. I was thinking that maybe we could set electrodes to specific points on the back and have some battery mechanism do the flapping when the electrodes detect input

[md65536]

Wow cool. I was thinking that maybe we could set electrodes to specific points on the back and have some battery mechanism do the flapping when the electrodes detect input

Uhhhh... okay well get researching!

Battery powered flight adds yet another challenge. Gasoline has a higher energy density.

 

Seriously, if you're going to do this you need to synthesize the state of the art in wing design, lightweight materials, etc...

I want to defend your goals against people who say advancement is impossible, but I don't think any of the specifics of your ideas so far have been realistic. Eg. if you want to use batteries, look up what others have done with battery-powered flight.

[Gaylord]

If you did have wings, they wouldn't do you any good, unless approximately half your body weight was in your pectoral muscles.

[Popcorn Sutton]

I dont think Im going to grow any biological wings, but there is a possibility that I can make mechanical wings, but powering them and keeping them light would be the challenge.

[dmaiski]

if you want wings that flap, and are attached to your back, you should probably look into the insect wing design, rather then the bird wing design

 

the simple fact that you can stack 6 sets of insect wings in the relative space taken up by a single bird wing should be what you need to get yourself off the ground easily

[Popcorn Sutton]

Hmm, there are options. Maybe the insect wing design is better suited because they are lighter and more compact, but also, has any large creature that we know of ever had insect like wings? The only one I can think about it the hummingbird, and those actually arent insect like wings, but they kind of act like them because they flap so fast

[Peter BE cimp]

You could drink redbull... jk but what you could do if you were so incredibly dedicated to this is go to get a bone marrow transplant, but instead just completely remove all your bone marrow and try to make your bones as light as possible (this may or may not kill you, though it probably will). Then, have a large piece of skin (if you want this to be "natural"), or a piece of light but strong fabric attached all the way up your arms and down your side to your waist. *Getting rid of your bone marrow will make you weaker, so you wouldn't be able to "flap your wings", but you would be able to glide around like you were wearing a wing-suit. OR, if you don't want to ruin your body and/or kill yourself, you could just get a wing-suit and a parachute and jump out of a plane or something. None of this is realistic though because the only reason birds and bats can fly is because they have a light bone structure and super strong( proportionally) muscles. Their bones are really brittle too, because of how light they are, and they can pivot at places. If you wanted insect-like wings, you would need some sort of an implant connected to your shoulder-blade and spine, and a machine that could flap thin pieces of plastic or something really fast (too fast for a human to do).

[Marshalscienceguy]

Well if you look at the structure of a bird and flying insects they have a much lighter frame. So I think it would be hard for a person to fly. Also your video is not working for me. So I did not get to watch it.

[davidivad]

popcorn,

 

you already have wings.

these wings are an evolutionary masterpiece because you do not have to meet any physical requirements.

all you need is to be human.

[Popcorn Sutton]

I'm not sure I understand.

[davidivad]

my comment was stating that you have an imagination which is much more useful than wings- you can do almost anything you want including flying.

 

if i were to design a wing for a person, it would probably model a soaring creature such as the hawk or eagle. these are large birds and use similar mechanical ideas to fly. also to note is that these birds can really carry some weight.

 

they glide for efficiency and also use thermals which are a way of "cheating."

[Popcorn Sutton]

But insects have a lot more control about their position.

[davidivad]

unfortunately you run into a problem of air viscosity. at this scale, the insect takes advantage of this viscosity in order to fly with the wings it has.

have you noticed that more modern animals have simpler mechanical means than that of insects or the pterodactyl?

[Popcorn Sutton]

So you're saying that scaling up a dragonfly to our weight and making it look like a human has completely different behavior wrt it's surroundings?

Edited April 3, 2014 by Popcorn Sutton

[davidivad]

i would say that the mechanics are more complex than that of a soaring bird.

that is not to say a dragonfly would be a bad idea.

i have seen slow motion edits of them adjusting in flight.

beautiful.

they seem so mechanical and buzzy until you slow them down. then you can see the grace by which they actually fly.

[Popcorn Sutton]

That's what this topic ultimately came down to. I think that we had a consensus that insect wings are much more efficient because they're light, but getting them to flap enough to lift you up is going to be tough

[davidivad]

well, imagine how loud a bee is right next to your ear.

also imagine just how fast it has to flap its wings.

here is a video i thought might be informative.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxrLYv0QXa4

[Genecks]

I'm not sure I understand.

 

I'm not sure I understand.

 

It was the will of the universe, dude. You don't have wings, because you were born a human being (at least I assume such). And if you were not born a human being, you wouldn't be asking this question. But if you want wings, maybe consent to some mad scientific experiments and hope you don't die in the process. Otherwise, maybe you'll want to become a pilot.

 

And if you want to argue about free will, then blame your pre-cognitive self that chose to be a human.

Edited April 3, 2014 by Genecks

[Popcorn Sutton]

 

Yay! My turn

There's an article by fox news calling this a hoax though. But it looks like they're putting it on a new episode of "Outrageous Acts of Science" which I will be recording if I catch it in time.

[Phi for All]

Yay! My turn

There's an article by fox news calling this a hoax though. But it looks like they're putting it on a new episode of "Outrageous Acts of Science" which I will be recording if I catch it in time.

 

Dutch filmmaker and animator Floris Kaayk admitted to being "Jarno Smeets", the "inventor" of these wings. He's admitted to the hoax, so any TV episode featuring it is probably going to bring this up.