Animals questions

6 fact-checked questions — tap any to predict the answer, then read why.

• Why can the same soft barn-owl feathers that mute flight make rainy hunting worse?
• Why is silent flight useful even if a mouse never hears the owl coming?
• Owl wing velvet may quiet a sound most airfoil diagrams ignore. Which one?
• At high wing angles, why can an owl's front-edge combs make airflow quieter?
• A barn owl can glide slowly without much wingbeat. What quiets flight before feather tricks?
• Marine iguanas eat sea algae, then sneeze white salt. Why sneeze?