'Directional Velcro' on birds' feathers prevent gaps from forming between them when hit by a gust of wind. Courtesy of Lentink Lab / Stanford University It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s… a bit of both.

Feathers define birds. Other critters, like insects, fly; but no other critter wears feathers. And what amazing structures they are, these feathers. They allow birds to fly, perform mating displays, ...

It took 150 million years for feathered dinosaurs to master flight and become the birds we see overhead today. By 125 million years ago, the Mesozoic skies were full of birds. But many of them were ...