John Stewart is back in the host chair at the Daily Show, which means he's also back in our ears on the Daily Show, Ears Edition podcast.

Join late night legend John Stewart and the best news team for today's biggest headlines, exclusive extended interviews and more.

Now this is a second term we can all get behind.

Listen to The Daily Show, Ears Edition on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of I Heart Radio.

Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and this is The Artifacts, a short form series from Stuff to Blow your mind focusing in on particular objects, ideas,

and moments in time.

In this episode we're going to dive once more into the fictional world of Frank Herbert's

Dune to discuss the Ornithopter, the predominant form of airborne travel in the far future

interstellar imperium.

In Herbert's original novel, the author notes

that Thopters are, quote, any aircraft capable

of sustained wingbeat flight in the manner of birds.

And the exact details of this technology

then largely left to the reader's imagination,

as well as the imaginations of numerous illustrators and storyboard artists

throughout the book's 60-year history. These interpretations vary greatly

exploring the Thopters' biomechanical aspects to varying degrees. As such we see

depictions of ornithopters that range from elegant bird-like machines to

vehicles with big flapping wings to things that only slightly indulge the overall concept.

For instance, the ornithopters in the 1984 film adaptation of Dune are boxy, bulky, and features small fixed wings that seem more decorative

than functional.

...