Let's say you and I are sitting in a big plane that's trying to land in storm.

To keep the aircraft on track as it approaches the runway, the pilot is continuing to make

constant corrections to allow for the changing gusts of wind.

Now as passengers were finding the experience pretty unsettling. Maybe we're

laughing nervously as the plane pitches and rolls. Maybe we're gripping the edge

of our seats silently praying. It's so bad that the pilot may even decide to abort

the landing altogether, pulling the nose up at the very last minute and turning

around in order to get us down safely. I don't know about you, but I'm hoping

that this pilot has a lot of experience. A storm like this is bad enough for

pilots of commercial passenger planes, but what if the aircraft you're trying to

control is a tiny drone? Well, that was a challenge facing a group of British

scientists who wanted to build a miniature drone that could keep flying for long

periods even in stormy conditions. And the solution they found was inspired by

the natural agility of an insect that's been dominating our skies for a very

long time. Dragonflies. Wherever in the world you're listening to this, you're

probably familiar with the beautiful and often brightly colored dragonfly.

This is because there are more than 6,000 known species of the

aquatic insect, which live in freshwater habitats like streams, ponds, lakes,

and rivers. Dragonflies are believed to be one of the first insects to inhabit

the planet, evolving some 300 million years ago. Now the dragonflies were

familiar with have a wingspan of around 5 to 10 centimeters, but back in the

Paleozoic era, they were much, much bigger. Fossils have been found to giant

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