by Staff Writers Washington DC (SPX) Nov 26, 2012 Owls have the
uncanny ability to fly silently, relying on specialized plumage
to reduce noise so they can hunt in acoustic stealth.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge, England, are
studying the owl's wing structure to better understand how it
mitigates noise so they can apply that information to the design
of conventional aircraft. They present their findings at the
American Physical Society's (APS) Division of Fluid Dynamics
meeting in San Diego, Calif. "Many owl species have developed
specialized plumage to effectively eliminate the aerodynamic
noise from their wings, which allows them to hunt and capture
their prey using their ears alone," said Justin Jaworski with
the department of applied mathematics and theoretical physics at
the University of Cambridge. "No one knows exactly how owls
achieve this acoustic stealth, and the reasons for this feat are
largely speculative based on comparisons of owl feathers and
physiology to other not-so-quiet bir