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Amazing that: (1) the mechanism involves a detached vortex; and (b) that it's taken millennia to understand what makes dandelion seeds fly.
by apo 8y ago
Amazing that: (1) the mechanism involves a detached vortex; and (b) that it's taken millennia to understand what makes dandelion seeds fly.
- booleandilemma 8y agoRelevant xkcd: https://xkcd.com/1867/ https://xkcd.com/1867/
- pbhjpbhj 8y agoRe (b) they appear to "fly" just like any other small piece of stuff, just moving with the air, so I imagine it's more "there doesn't appear to be any need to explain it". They, dandelion seeds, appear to fly like other cotton-y plants do (eg heather [1]). I wonder if they creates these vortices too? I'd guess not as their structures aren't regular and they don't have the weighted 'drop' to give stability? [1] https://oregonstate.edu/dept/nursery-weeds/email_pubs/thistles/thistles.html https://oregonstate.edu/dept/nursery-weeds/email_pubs/thistl...