Dandelion Seeds Fly Using ‘Impossible’ Method Never Before Seen in Nature • Hacker News Board

Re: Dandelion Seeds Fly Using ‘Impossible’ Method Never Before Seen in Nature

#31

Post by mindfulhack » Wed, Oct 17, 2018, 11:09 PM UTC

It's like nature's had millions of years to crunch through its own AI / machine learning of evolution and adaptation, and we're about to unleash the same thing on an impossibly faster scale. Imagine the technological breakthroughs that are going to happen.

I'm optimistic.

Re: Dandelion Seeds Fly Using ‘Impossible’ Method Never Before Seen in Nature

#32

Post by JoshMandel » Wed, Oct 17, 2018, 11:09 PM UTC

jahbrewski wrote: post #30

Is there a link to the actual journal article?

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0604-2

Re: Dandelion Seeds Fly Using ‘Impossible’ Method Never Before Seen in Nature

#33

Post by strainer » Wed, Oct 17, 2018, 11:09 PM UTC

  """   """
  "" ^v^ ""
  "" ^v^ ""
  "" ^v^ ""  ... low pressure
  """..."""      held by vortex
  #########  ### dandelion falling   
  """""""""  """ rising air

I wonder about the chances of creating this kind of toroidal vortex above a duct for lift. It seems necessary for the air to pass in the same direction as the lift, yet lift is normally created by throwing air in the opposite direction.

Re: Dandelion Seeds Fly Using ‘Impossible’ Method Never Before Seen in Nature

#34

Post by dpfu » Wed, Oct 17, 2018, 11:10 PM UTC

jahbrewski wrote: post #30

Is there a link to the actual journal article?

There is, right in the article: Cummins, C. et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0604-2 (2018).

Re: Dandelion Seeds Fly Using ‘Impossible’ Method Never Before Seen in Nature

#35

Post by JoshMandel » Wed, Oct 17, 2018, 11:12 PM UTC

sova wrote: post #16

Does anybody have a link to a video of the lasers creating small vortices just above the dandelion surface?

https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1038%2Fs415...

Re: Dandelion Seeds Fly Using ‘Impossible’ Method Never Before Seen in Nature

#36

Post by 2_listerine_pls » Wed, Oct 17, 2018, 11:13 PM UTC

lordnacho wrote: post #12

aidos wrote: post #3

That was a lovely little diversion! There’s a brief 1 minute clip in the article that’s worth watching. I do have one question though, how is the air flowing up through? It the seed not falling for that to happen?

Yes, the seed is falling, but the vortex slows the fall enough for it to be useful in distributing the seed as far as possible.

My intuitive understanding is that the vortex is a consequence of the slower flow through and not the other way around.

Re: Dandelion Seeds Fly Using ‘Impossible’ Method Never Before Seen in Nature

#37

Post by zepearl » Wed, Oct 17, 2018, 11:16 PM UTC

The result of natural/evolutionary selection?

Would be interesting to know if there are different types of dandelions (I mean the part used to "fly") used by the same type of seed, each type adapted/optimized for a particular climate (e.g. humid for asian areas, dry for african areas, windy for coastal areas, ...).

Re: Dandelion Seeds Fly Using ‘Impossible’ Method Never Before Seen in Nature

#38

Post by whoopdedo » Wed, Oct 17, 2018, 11:16 PM UTC

the8472 wrote: post #25

repiret wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree its a bad headline. Maybe "Dandelion Seeds Fly Using Method Not Previously Described in Nature", because: 1. Of course its been _observed_ before. As the video points out, just about every kid has observed it. The claim is really that nobody has previously understood the physics of it. 2. There's nothing impossible about it, clearly. Moreover, the article doesn't claim that people had previously analyzed the…

The vortex may not have been observed since air is mostly transparent.

Or that no one had been able to answer, "What makes dandelion seeds fly?" because no one had asked the question before. At least not asked it in a way that prompted someone to look at a floating dandelion seed close enough to notice the vortex.

Re: Dandelion Seeds Fly Using ‘Impossible’ Method Never Before Seen in Nature

#39

Post by bromuro » Wed, Oct 17, 2018, 11:21 PM UTC

mindfulhack wrote: post #31

It's like nature's had millions of years to crunch through its own AI / machine learning of evolution and adaptation, and we're about to unleash the same thing on an impossibly faster scale. Imagine the technological breakthroughs that are going to happen. I'm optimistic.

Are we re-discovering nature as a big not-artificial intelligence? like that big entity someone will start to respect, venerate and serve as a mythical goddess?

Re: Dandelion Seeds Fly Using ‘Impossible’ Method Never Before Seen in Nature

#40

Post by amelius » Wed, Oct 17, 2018, 11:21 PM UTC

pugworthy wrote: post #10

Something something "Bumblebees shouldn't be able to fly" something something. How is it we are shocked to find out we are sometimes wrong and not shocked that sometimes we get it right? My critique by the way is the headline, not the actual research. The headline is clickbait IMO, and just as I suppose some don't like my comment (not well thought out, emotional, etc.), the headline is the same. E.g., consider, "Curi…

> E.g., consider, "Curious unexpected aerodynamic principles of dandelion seeds lead scientists to new areas of discovery"

You can even shorten that to "unexpected aerodynamic principles of dandelion seeds".