Thursday, November 13, 2008

Hummingbird Mechanics

I watched the hummingbird flit from one flower to another, hovering from stamen to stamen while it collected its breakfast. I wondered how its wings could possibly move so fast, as if they would be flung off from sheer forces. They are a blur.

I wonder what the bird would look like if it was a constant x-ray. What if I had a machine like that, watching it fly about with furious determination. Would I see its skeleton? Its body would be stationary while its wings would be gray, a mix of black and white that never stopped moving.

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