Researchers built a robot bird that uses real feathers to fly

Researchers at Stanford's Lentink Lab studied pigeon cadavers to figure out exactly how their wings work. Researchers then built their own wing using 40 real pigeon feathers and tried it on a robot dubbed "PigeonBot."

This robot turned out to be more lightweight and robust than its carbon and glass fiber predecessors and the team believes their findings could inspire future aircraft design.