Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Winged seeds called samaras grow on maple trees. These are seeds from the Japanese maple, _Acer palmatum_. AlessandroZocc/iStock ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Jun. 10—If you think you've been seeing an invasion of helicopters this year, you're not imagining things. Southern Minnesota ...

PASADENA, Calif.—The twirling seeds of maple trees spin like miniature helicopters as they fall to the ground. Because the seeds descend slowly as they swirl, they can be carried aloft by the wind and ...

We’ve seen aircraft based on “helicopter” seeds (technically samara seeds, which include those of maples and elms) before, but this recent design from researchers at the Singapore University of ...

The seeds that twirl down from maple treesevery spring can fly as far as a mile, with each wing-shaped seed spinning like a whirligig on the air. Studies have shown that the seed’s whirling, called ...

Like helicoptering maple seeds, tiny new fliers whirl gracefully as they glide. The miniature aircraft, which can be made as small as a grain of sand, could be dispersed by air over long distances.

When wind or other disturbances detach winged maple seeds called samaras from their parent tree, they spin through the air—and can even spin when it's raining. Impacts by high-speed raindrops only ...

The twirling seeds of maple trees spin like miniature helicopters as they fall to the ground. Because the seeds descend slowly as they swirl, they can be carried aloft by the wind and dispersed over ...