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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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I will talk about the following topics: firstly, we found that small animal fliers (body size <10 cm) flying directly into an artificial waterfall have a degraded flight performance. We hypothesized that those effects can prevent blood-sucking insects crossing through waterfalls. This can explain why medium-sized birds risks themselves building their nests behind waterfalls. Secondly, we investigated the 3D kinematics and swimming performance of the black ghost knifefish in response to the complex wake of a free oscillating cylinder. We found that vortex-induced vibrations in bluff bodies create an unsteady flow environment that is more challenging for swimming animals, than Kármán vortex streets.