Boston Flora

Tag: On the Wing

  • Wednesday, October 18, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm – On the Wing Part II

    On Wednesday, October 18 at 6:30 pm, the Arnold Arboretum hosts Lorna Gibson, PhD, Matoula S. Salapatas Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in a free lecture (registration required at 617-384-5277, or email adulted@arnarb.harvard.edu).

    What do you get from a bird-lover who is a materials science engineer? A close look at feathers. In this second installment of On the Wing, Lorna Gibson discusses how down keeps a bird warm, how the structure of the feather shaft reduces its weight, and how adaptations of flight feathers produce or suppress sound.

  • Tuesday, May 9, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm – On the Wing

    What do you get from a bird-lover who is a materials science engineer? A close look at feathers. In this talk, Lorna Gibson, PhD, Matoula S. Salapatas Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology will speak  at the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum about the microscopic structure of feathers and explain how their structure makes hummingbirds feathers iridescent, ducks feathers water repellent and owl ruff feathers collectors of sound.  Free, registration requested.  Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.