Glide

A striking wildlife photograph shows a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) flying low across a Texas lake, skimming the surface as if riding its own shadow. The image, shared by a nature photographer, is drawing attention alongside a broader gallery of heron and egret pictures, charming bird watchers and photography fans with the bird's graceful, mirror-like flight over calm water.

A wildlife photographer has shared images of an eyestripe surgeonfish, known in Hawaii as the palani, gliding over a coral reef. The fish closely resembles the yellowfin surgeonfish, called kala, making the two species easy to confuse. Prints of the photographs are being offered for sale, with the post drawing modest attention from ocean and marine-life enthusiasts.

A new research write-up circulating online describes animals gaining airborne or gliding capabilities, prompting jokes that flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz may soon be joined by hovering cowardly lions, airborne tin men, and paddling Toto. Commenters are sharing the story with amusement, riffing on the film references while passing along the underlying science news about surprising animal locomotion.

Engineers in Singapore have built ALBATROSS, a robot weighing about one kilogram that is dropped from a drone at roughly 150 metres. It spins its limbs to slow its fall from around 110 to 24 km/h, then transforms into a small sailboat steered by a fish-like rudder. The machine runs on just three actuators and three sensors, impressing observers with how much capability is packed into such a simple design.

Researchers have built a small robot that mimics the spinning fall of a maple seed and can glide across the surface of water. The design pairs lightweight rotational descent with sailing capability, drawing attention for its elegant bioinspired engineering and potential uses in environmental monitoring or distributed sensing from the air and water.