Flamingos create precise water vortices in a shrimp-hunting frenzy

Elie Dolgin • June 4, 2025

Vortex creation in filter feeding animals is rare.

Tornado-generating beaks and whirlpool-stirring feet help flamingos transform shallow waters into shrimp-swirling death zones — corralling agile prey with the flair of a Las Vegas stage act and the efficiency of a Dyson vacuum.

That’s the takeaway from a study published May 12 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that combined high-speed video, fluid dynamics experiments and 3-D-printed flamingo parts to reveal the mechanics behind the birds’ underwater feeding frenzies.


Continue reading at Science News.

Blue and gold fibrous texture in the shape of brain
By Elie Dolgin June 30, 2025
AI and real-time neural feedback could transform treatments.
Damaged 15th century painting by the Master of the Prado Adoration of the Magi
By Elie Dolgin June 12, 2025
Pixels meet paint, as a digital “mask” conceals damage on a 15th-century painting.