SciShow Tangents

Wings with Stefan Chin

Episode Summary

It's just about Thanksgiving here in the US; a special time during which we count our blessings. And this year, Tangents is giving you an extra thing to be thankful for: Stefan Chin is back as our special guest! Our long lost co-host returns to talk to us about wings: birds love to use 'em, people love to eat 'em, and planes need them too, I guess. Sit around the table with us, won't you, as we pass out some heaping helpings of science knowledge. Pass the gravy!

Episode Notes

It's just about Thanksgiving here in the US; a special time during which we count our blessings. And this year, Tangents is giving you an extra thing to be thankful for: Stefan's our special guest! 

Our long lost co-host returns to talk to us about wings: birds love to use 'em, people love to eat 'em, and planes need them too, I guess. Sit around the table with us, won't you, as we pass out some heaping helpings of science knowledge. Pass the gravy!

SciShow Tangents is on YouTube! Go to www.youtube.com/scishowtangents to check out this episode with the added bonus of seeing our faces! 

Head to www.patreon.com/SciShowTangents to find out how you can help support SciShow Tangents, and see all the cool perks you’ll get in return, like bonus episodes and a monthly newsletter!

And go to https://store.dftba.com/collections/scishow-tangents to buy your very own, genuine SciShow Tangents sticker!

A big thank you to Patreon subscribers Garth Riley and Tom Mosner for helping to make the show possible!

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! 

While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @im_sam_schultz Hank: @hankgreen

[Trivia Question]

Number of bird wings in the Burke Museum 

https://www.burkemuseum.org/collections-and-research/biology/ornithology

https://www.audubon.org/news/behind-scenes-worlds-largest-bird-wing-collection

https://www.burkemuseum.org/collections-and-research/biology/ornithology/collections-database/results.php?l=20&o=0&n=40653&m=32557&f=&g=&s=17h%7EIymyNd1yIp&w=PfHdywfPYczv2Y01KbF0&wo=PHdywPYjdyhNdQIY1KbF

[Fact Off]

Club-winged manakins use wing feathers to chirp/sing

Video & audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSHjhCN6NC0

Audio-only clips: https://ebird.org/species/clwman1

Picture of feathers: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PipraWing.jpg

https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2005/07/rare-south-american-bird-sings-its-feathers-attract-mate-cornell-researcher-finds

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/singing-with-his-wings-the-club-winged-manakins-display/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3440988/

[Ask the Science Couch]

Planes flying upside down

https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/beginners-guide-to-aeronautics/what-is-lift/

https://www.popsci.com/flying-upside-down-physics/

https://www.flyingmag.com/why-can-airplanes-fly-upside-down/

https://howthingsfly.si.edu/ask-an-explainer/how-do-planes-fly-upside-down

[Butt One More Thing]

Airplane and wing butt lines

http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/design/q0289.shtml

https://www.aircraftsystemstech.com/p/location-numbering-systems-even-on.html

https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/72611/what-is-the-difference-between-a-wing-station-and-wing-buttock-line

http://www.techdrawingtools.com/24/l2402.htm