Scientists unveil robotic bat

In what would make an excellent sidekick for Batman, scientists have built a fascinating, unconventional flying robot that moves its wings and flies just like a bat. Covered with a thin, silicon skin, the flexible wings of this mechanical creature-- called Bat Bot-- can move like bat wings do, making use of nine different artificial joints (real bats have far more joints). Anyone who's ever seen a bat flap around at dusk knows they are incredible flyers, and Soon-Jo Chung, one of the flying robot's creators, said that he gets "mesmerized" by bats' impressive flight skills, with their quick turns and perching. "Bat flight is the holy grail of aerial robotics," Chung, an associate professor at CalTech and a research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said during a conference call with reporters on Tuesday. The flying robotic creation is very different from a typical artificial flying device, like a quadrotor drone that uses spinning propellers.