Birds + No Gravity = ?

[gannon]

No gravity = No atmosphere = Nothing to push off of. Now, if it shot feathers out of it's wings, crapped, or spit, that would propel it with equal force in the opposite direction

[Kurt_]

Let's assume there's somle miracle keeping Earth's atmosphere intact, but gravity wasn't present.

[Sparkfist]

Guys the question was could a bird fly in zero gravity, not a vacumme or outter space. You can have a lack of gavity but still have an atmosphere (the shuttle is one example).

Now if you guys want to be specific and think he ment in space. Thne no, the bird would likely have a decompression explosion and if that didn't happen within the first 30 second it would freeze/boil and if neither those happened fast enough it would have sufficated from lack of oxygen.

There either the bird can fly or it dies from lack of enviormant.

[gannon]

well, just because the atmosphere is intact doesn't mean it hasn't floated off somewhere other than earth

[Klefmung]

There would be no such thing as flying, as flying is defined as moving in the opposite direction of the largest gravitational pull on you. So no gravity=no flying. You would just be in the hands of inertia.

[vskid]

I think it could move about. Send this to NASA and have them send a bird up to the ISS.

[Gamelver]

huh....I guess this all depends on one's perception of "flying" really . I thought of it as a way to move about in the air (which would be possible, by simply "pushing" off the air molecules ), but really, since there is no gravity, it isn't flying.

[daguuy]

i think it would be able to fly but it'd be a lot harder to control speed and where it's going.

[teraflop122]

I think the question being asked was meant to be, "could a bird propel itself in a controlled manner without the presence of gravity."

Literally speaking, a bird in a gravity field flies, and a bird outside of a gravity field swims (propels itself through a fluid). The bird would simply need a little time to practice and get used to the different motions required.

[Extreme_Jesus]

it could fly i reckon

the reason humans dont go anywhere in zero G when we flap our arms is the same reason we dont fly when we jump off a building and flap our arms

[NES_fanatic]

No gravity = No atmosphere = Nothing to push off of. Now, if it shot feathers out of it's wings, crapped, or spit, that would propel it with equal force in the opposite direction

Even though what you had to say doesn't exactly line up with the argument, it's still false because in a vacuum the bird would simply explode.

[cowsgoquack101]

I think the bird would eventually fly float out of the atmosphere and die...

Just kidding.

[usbcd36]

Birds gain forward momentum by diving, which can only be accomplished when there is something pulling them down. It's true that they push off of the ground as well, but if gravity isn't holding them there, they'd need to push off of a tree or something (unless the ground had REALLY good traction). Still, many birds glide, which involves diving (see above), so even if they managed to take off, they couldn't go very far until they got stuck and started turning around in circles.


In short: if you replaced the air with sulfur hexafluoride (assuming the bird wouldn't suffocate), they might be able to propel themselves against it, because it is a heavier gas that is more difficult to move.

[MajorLag]

I'll vote for "probably". At any rate it would have a significantly easier time with it than we would because its wings would give it a propulsion advantage. I would imagine that given enough time in this magical environment they'd evolve to use their tail feathers like a fish and propel themselves that way.

[im_an_alien]

basically what everyone else said. possibly...