Learning from insects

Flies’ superior flight techniques surpass the contemporary aircrafts. In our day it is the dream of engineers to produce miniature aircrafts that can imitate flapping wings of insects.

In exploring the planet Mars, which provides an inhospitable environment for conventional aircrafts with its thin athmosphere, the mission falls to mechanical insects (robots) capable of both flying and crawling. With their aerobatics capabilities butterflies inspire such mechanical insects. With support from NASA’s Institute fo Advanced Concepts, a team of reserchers that includes Georgia Institute of Technology engineers conducts a comprehensive feeasibilty study designed to show whether a fleet of scaled-up Entomopters (mechanical insects) could one day help explore Mars. (www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-plane-01a.html)

In our day it is not possible to produce aircrafts with wingspans less than 15 cm., for these small wings prove to be incapable of producing any ascending force. Flies that are much tinier, on the other hand, perfectly fly with their minute wings. When the ascending force provided by wings is compared with unit area, it appears that flies are 10 times more superior than aircrafts. (Harun Yahya, Biomimetics)

With mini cameras mounted over, aircrafts 15 cm in length are developed to fly over 100 meters for spy missions.  AeroVironment, a company in California, has been producing these unmanned planes for years. Matt Keennon, the company’s manager on the project, said it was a technical challenge to create the mini-machine because it pushes the limitations of aerodyamics. In this respect, the non-imitability of fly flight and man’s technical incompetence to replicate their manoeuvres are also by Allah’s leave. In the Qur’an Allah relates us the miracle of Creation in flies as follows:
 

Mankind! an example has been made, so listen to it carefully. Those whom you call upon besides Allah are not even able to create a single fly, even if they were to join together to do it. And if a fly steals something from them, they cannot get it back. How feeble are both the seeker and the sought! (Surat al-Hajj, 73)