Ms. Ackerman is the author of “What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds,” from which this essay is excerpted. When the first lucky observers spotted Flaco, the Eurasian ...

If you’ve seen an owl fly, you probably didn’t hear a thing. That’s because their skin and feathers dampen sound by absorbing high- and low-frequency flight noise. Inspired by this natural ...

The micro-fringes on owl wings effectively suppress the noise while maintaining the aerodynamic performance of the wings comparable to that of a wing without the fringes. Owls are fascinating ...

Owl-inspired innovations can reduce noise by as much as 10 decibels, similar to the difference in noise between a passing truck and a passing car. Ed MacKerrow / In Light Of Nature Every owl fancier ...

Don’t let owls’ cute faces fool you—they’re deadly predators. This duality is part of what makes them so mysterious to humans. And their contradictions don’t end there: Their hoots are among the most ...

A new sound-suppression study provides fresh insight for airfoil design and noise control for micro-aircraft and fluid machinery. The research focused on the concept of trailing-edge noise by using ...

A new soundproofing material (fluffy white disk, right image) that mimics the structure of owl skin and feathers reduced the rumble of a car engine more than a traditional felt fiber soundproofing ...