1186: Bumblebees
| Bumblebees |
 Title text: Did you know sociologists can't explain why people keep repeating that urban legend about bumblebees not being able to fly!? |
[edit] Explanation
There is an often repeated legend that according to the laws of aerodynamics, bumblebees cannot fly. In fact, it would be more accurate to say that all the mechanics of bumblebee flight are not known and that the approximations to the aerodynamics equations which work well for fixed-wing aircraft, do not work for bumblebees. In recent years, there have been more sophisticated computer models of bumblebee flight, and they have discovered how bumblebee wings produce adequate lift.
This strip is a reference to Bee Movie, in which the main character, Barry B. Benson, enlists the help of other bees to land a plane with the last reserves of pollen on earth. The opening quote of the movie repeats the Bumblebee legend, followed by saying, "The bee, of course, flies anyway, because bees don't care what humans think is impossible."
The strip also creates a fallacy that because experts can't explain something, they must not be able to understand it (when in reality, the fact in question should be verified first). For example, in this case, it is stated as fact that bumblebees can fly planes. Since physicists can't seem to be able to explain why that is, physicists have more to learn. Without the knowledge that bumblebees can't fly planes (the knowledge physicists are implied to lack), it's assumed physicists would continue working on the problem ad infinitum until a layman pointed out the assumption is not true.
[edit] Transcript
- Science fact:
- [A bumblebee is perched on the yoke (control column) of an airplane.]
- Physicists still can't explain how bumblebees can fly airplanes.
add a comment!Discussion
Amazing that this urban legend is still going. I seem to remember reading that the aerodynamicist who came to this conclusion sobered up and withdrew his comments within a day or two, 80 years ago. DD (talk) 09:22, 15 March 2013 (UTC)
In Richard Hammonds Invisible Worlds (Great Series) they shows slow motion footage of a bee's flight through smoke, revealing that the be TWISTS ITS WINGS in order to swing downwards twice in one flap of its wings, doubling its lift and removing the up-flaps negative lift. Here is the link, http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p007vs8p.220.255.1.50 10:37, 15 March 2013 (UTC)
I also saw this comic as a reference to the movie "A Bee Movie" where Jerry Seinfeld's bee character is helping the human land the plane. I realize the human is actually flying the plane in that situation, but the bees were helping her. -- User:Mattsinc (talk) 12:31, 16 March 2013 (UTC)
Bumblebees DO fly planes. <Can't believe what I'm about to say...> Ask an economist <Forces self to overcomes retching impulse>. Bumblebee#Agricultural_use #TIL about Buzz pollination. 220.224.246.97 14:44, 16 March 2013 (UTC)