Better Feathers  

Saudi Arabia, 2020. A falconer releases his peregrine falcon. The bird has only one goal in mind. Chase, and catch up to an electric race car that can reach speeds of up to 300kph. Not only is the falcon able to keep up, it almost surpasses it. The falcon is nearly perfectly adapted to high speed flight. Every vane in every feather evolved for exactly one purpose and one purpose only: Speed*. But how did it get here?  

How does a feather stay together?  

A feather is built up of a central shaft, also called the rachis. If you were to look under a microscope, you could also see barbs. These branch off of the rachis. And what branches out from those barbs? Barbules. The barbules interlock into a wicker-like pattern. The barbules can stay together because some of them have hooklets coming out of them. These work like Velcro to form the surface that we know as the vane, the part that produces life for the bird.  

How did they evolve?  

For the very first feathers we have to go back to the dinosaurs. The first traces of feathers are more like wires. They were long and symmetrical. The leading theory is that the  animals who discovered that if they flapped their feathered arms it helped with running up inclines. Following Charles Darwin’s principles of evolution the ones with longer and broader feathers survived. Then they slowly morphed into the feather we know and love today.  

But different birds needed different feathers. A hummingbird needed top of the line maneuverability. An albatross needed long distance flight. And a falcon, the falcon needed speed and controlled dives which resulted in long narrow and very asymmetrical feathers.   

The important thing to note is that a falcon’s wing isn’t just a lift producing panel. The bird has control over the spacing, the bend, the twist and much more.   

The shaft is thicker and has a higher specific bending stiffness. They’re especially stiff in the tail feathers, which is most likely linked to the insane strain they undergo during the pullout after a dive. Most raptors have primary wings that can significantly alter its aerodynamic structure during high speed flight.  

Our mission  

Nature has spent millions of years perfecting feathered flight.A feather may look simple, but it is the result of an extraordinary biological evolutionary process. 

Our goal is to understand the inner workings of what allows a falcons feather to withstand such high forces, create such precision, and make such high speed possible. By combining biology, physics, and maybe a touch of chemistry we aim to recreate a feather to the best of our abilities to then fully enhance it to its maximum theoretical potential. The perfect feather doesn’t have to belong to a bird. 

*This is a very absolute statement. Feathers have multiple functions like flight control, camouflage. Evolution doesn’t have a predetermined goal.