Scientists have been fascinated by the fluttery flight of butterflies for centuries. The mystery of how a butterfly with a small body size and relatively broad wings can fly may be closer to being uncovered. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden devoted a study documenting the aerodynamics of butterflies in a wind tunnel. The results show that it’s due to their highly effective clap technique that these beautiful insects can rapidly take off in the presence of predators.

The Butterfly Study

Up until that recent study, researchers believed that butterfly wings were aerodynamically inefficient. Scientists at Lund University managed to debunk that belief. They studied the wingbeats of real butterflies during free flight. What they observed was the confirmation of a wings colliding theory made almost 50 years ago.

Researchers observed that when the wings are cupped as butterflies clap them together, this significantly increases the efficiency of the wing stroke due to the air-filled pocket between them. When the wings go down, a.k.a. collide, that air is forced out, and the backward jet that’s formed is what keeps the butterflies moving forward. The second function of the downward wingbeat is that it keeps the insects from falling to the ground.

What it Means for Technology

Researchers at Lund University even created a mechanical specimen that mimics real butterfly wings to further confirm flight efficiency. They found that flexible wings offer greater impulse and flight performance by 22 and 22 percent, respectively. Given the newly discovered benefits of the butterfly wing shape and flexibility, researchers are able to take that technique and use it to improve existing flight technology. For example, biology researcher Per Henningsson, who led the study alongside his colleague Christoffer Johansson, suggests that the findings can be used in improving the performance and flight efficiency of small drones. Who knew butterflies could teach us how to fly?

Have you ever looked at something and had to do a double-take because you were sure you saw something else entirely? Specifically, we mean when you are convinced that something managed to blend into the background, simply because it matched the color behind it. That, by definition, is what camouflage means. The following photos are great examples of amazing incidents where the most unlikely things managed to blend in with their surroundings.

There are some examples of extreme camouflage on this list that could actually end up being severe safety hazards when you think about it. We’re not entirely sure where this building begins and where it ends.

According to the person who posted this image online, the paint of the building is the exact same shade as the sky. At least, it was on this cloudy day. If the sky was just a bit brighter or a bit darker, you’d be able to see the entire building.

What is it about Dalmatians that make them stand out from all other members of the canine family? Well, for a start, we can attribute that to their beautiful white coat that is laden with black spots. Heck, they even made movies about this beautiful dog breed.

You would think that these dogs will always stand out from the crowd. However, that isn’t always the case, as demonstrated in the following photo. OK, we can still see this adorable Dalmatian, but the snow and grass definitely don’t help!

Sometimes, it’s not just animals and buildings that seem to disappear before our very eyes. Sometimes, it can even be an item of clothing that completely changes the way we look at something.

Take the image of this guy lying down in the middle of a music festival. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves but nobody takes notice of the fact that this guy looks like he has lost the middle part of his body!

Don’t you just love it when you get two things for the price of one? If you were to simply skim past this photo, you might just assume that it was a dog taking a well-earned nap on his owner’s armchair.

However, you might want to take a closer look at our canine friend. It turns out that he has a sleeping buddy who is blending in because they have the same colored fur. We guess we could call this a case of “Catouflage.”

One could assume that some kind of moss had grown on this chick during the early stages of its life. Thankfully, when this person discovered it, they were still alive and healthy and this wasn’t the case.

This was just the color of the chick and they miraculously blended in with the greenery around them, which saved them from being eaten by predators. So the guy ended up taking them to the vet and this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Have you ever looked down and assumed that someone was invisible because of something they wore? That item of clothing blended so well into the background that it made the person look like they were vanishing into thin air? Here is a perfect example of that phenomenon.

According to this person who posted this photo online, they found a man who had “transparent socks,” whatever that means. Either that or the socks are simply the same design as the floor.

There is something about seeing our beloved pets cuddling up into a blanket that is just as soft and fluffy as their own fur. It’s wonderful to look at and if they are able to lie on the blanket that also happens to be on us, then even better.

But when you suddenly see a black nose and some eyes in your blanket, you need to maybe do a double take. No, your blanket didn’t miraculously come to life – that’s your dog.

This is a perfect example of a camouflage image where the caption is just as funny and noteworthy as the actual image. The person who posted this photo online wrote the following: “Some animals have evolved to mimic their environment. This adaptation helps them to evade predators.”

We guess that the animal in question here is the man wearing this checkered shirt, who has blended perfectly into his bedsheets. And the predator? It’s his partner.

This might not be the obscurest of camouflage images on this list, but it’s still pretty neat. Animals have a tendency to adapt to their surroundings in a way to help them survive, something humans aren’t particularly good at. That’s where this beautiful owl comes into play.

If he was to cling to the tree behind him and close his eyes, you might not even notice him while walking past. This owl’s owner needs to keep an eye on him at all times!

Here is another example of someone who is wearing clothes that perfectly match their background, from top to bottom. Somehow, this guy, and everyone around him, for that matter, managed to keep it together as they played a tense game of snooker.

It’s almost as if no one, including the guy, noticed that a huge coincidence was going on right before their very eyes. Just look at that! The pattern on his shirt lines up perfectly with the paint job on the wall!

The best pets are the ones who will make themselves noticed at the perfect times but also know when to blend into the background. Especially during these times, when so many people work from home, it’s important to establish some boundaries with your pets every once in a while.

This guy doesn’t seem to have any problem doing that with his dog. His fur perfectly matches the carpet. The owner just needs to make sure they don’t step on him anytime soon!

When you are sitting in a crowd full of people, it is inevitable that you are probably able to blend in and not be noticed, as long as you don’t do anything completely out of the ordinary.

And yet, this guy’s incredible ability to blend into the chair he was sitting in, ended up making him go viral! It turns out that the design of the cushion on this chair perfectly matched the shirt he was wearing.

The power of this example of perfect camouflaging can only be fully appreciated when you look at both images in this two-way split. Upon first glance, the top image looks pretty inconspicuous. It just appears to be a bunch of leaves and a couple of yellow flowers.

Nothing that important to write home about. However, when you take a look at the bottom image, which is basically the top image zoomed in, you will discover that many of these leaves are hosting tiny tree frogs.

What are the odds that someone would be wearing a top that matches the trees, pants that match the snow and they’d be standing in the perfect position to create the following illusion?

For a minute there, we actually thought that we were looking at half a photo because of the way that the bottom half of it is predominately white. If this person was wearing dark trousers, then the illusion would surely be shattered.

While animals have changed in appearance to blend into their surroundings over millions of years, it seems like there are some species who can blend in much quicker than that. Take these vines, for example.

The person who posted this photo couldn’t believe how the vines of their house had changed color in order to match the wall they were resting on. Isn’t that insane! He should try repainting the planks a different color and see what happens.

Is it just us, or do cats know exactly how to pull at our heartstrings whenever they get extra comfortable sleeping on a blanket? More often than not, they will stretch out into unorthodox positions and we can’t help but feel compelled to stroke their furry bellies, as much as they don’t like it!

This blanket looks like a wide, sprawling extension of this cat’s fur. Of course, it isn’t. But it’s tricky to judge where the feline ends and the blanket begins.

There are times in life when the clothes we wear will perfectly blend into the background. And we’re not just talking about one color. Every single item of clothing we are wearing might line up perfectly with each respective color in the background.

Take this woman, for example, who hit the jackpot when it came to having this photo taken of her for the ‘Gram. Whether or not this was intentional, we don’t really care. It still looks awesome either way.

This might be one of the toughest examples of extreme camouflage on the entire list. You might be thinking to yourself, “why did they add just a random photo of a rock formation?” Well, if you take a closer look, this is basically like a game of Where’s Waldo.

Except, Waldo isn’t in this image. Instead, we are looking for a puma, who is stealthily blending into the rocks as they most likely, stalk some sort of prey that is out of the shot.

Imagine being this guy and walking into the following art exhibition. He must be thinking to himself, “what came first, the art or my jacket? Who copied who first?” Whatever the answer may be, it is pretty striking just how similar the pattern in his jacket is to the trippy piece of art behind him.

He simply had to have his photo taken to show just how well the two lined up against each other.

According to the person who posted this trippy image of a car, the reason that this vehicle appears to be almost invisible is that it was given an incredible wax job. In their words, it led to “predator level camouflage.” And we can’t disagree with that.

If you want to kidnap or attack someone quickly and get out of dodge, this is the car for you! We’re not advising to do either of those things – just saying!

They say that the best things in life come in pairs. Right? Someone definitely said that. We’re sure of it. Anyway, that phrase certainly applies to the following image. Sure, there is a misconception that black cats bring bad luck.

But when you have a black kitten who blends into the fur of their big black brother, who happens to be a dog, we think that this supposed misfortune surely has to get canceled out, purely because of how cute the combination is.

Don’t you just hate it when you wear something to a party and your shirt ends up matching something prevalent at the venue! This person had no choice but to take a photo of his brother’s red shirt, pointing out on social media that it perfectly matched the carpet he was walking on.

What are the odds of that? If we were him, we would run back home and put on a new shirt before any more relatives spotted us.

How many photos do we need to post of an adorable furry creature blending into a fluffy blanket before you say to yourself, “OK, I seriously need to think more carefully about what colors I buy?” Seriously!

How did this person manage to have this tiny little bunny who has the exact same patterned fur as the blanket it is resting on? It’s cute, but this owner can’t point the finger if it ends up losing it!

We had to do a serious double-take on this photo. If this boy’s shorts are cut in half, then what happened to his legs? Oh wait, we take back that ridiculous statement. It turns out that his shorts have a design that resembles the grass he is standing on.

From that point onward, he was the subject of plenty of jokes amongst his peers. What are you supposed to do when the upper part of your legs appear to have vanished?

What are the odds that the dress this person is wearing has a nearly identical pattern to the box of Kleenex she is keeping closeby? OK, so there are some clear differences between the patterns.

To start with, the pattern on the woman’s dress has a lot more orange lines and the blue to white pattern has been inverted. Truth be told though, the similarities are pretty striking and this surely can’t be just a strange coincidence.

If you were wondering what happened to this person’s toes when first observing this image, you would be forgiven. Pause for a second, and you’ll soon realize that she is wearing footwear that matches the pebbles.

However, if you pull out the binoculars and zoom in on the shoes, you will see that the pattern isn’t even pebbles. They are grey and purple flowers laid on top of each other. From a distance though, they are strikingly similar to the little stones surrounding them.

Sometimes, a thing can be in the right place at the right time, and go missing because of it. Take this phone, for example. “My friend’s phone case blends in with this 1982 school library circulation desk,” the person wrote on social media.

What’s truly amazing is that even the black lines in the design perfectly line up with the black lines on the table. It’s almost as if the person took a photo of the desk and made a case out of it. Surely not.

The person who posted this photo made the wild observation that their dogs had become “cuttlefish,” because of the unique way that their fur colors matched the surfaces they were walking on. But in our eyes, this looks more like the classic Yin and Yang symbol.

To be fair, if the dogs actually switched sides, with the lighter one standing on the darker surface and vice versa, then we would really have a Yin and Yang situation on our hands.

We’re not entirely sure why this guy is dressed the way he is. By the looks of it, he has some kind of military ties and is on some kind of recon mission. Either that, or he simply wants to blend into his surroundings.

It appears that he’s doing a pretty good job, as the greens and whites in his attire perfectly match the background. We have no doubt in our minds that he’s going to have a tough time being caught.

Let’s face it, cats are the masters of camouflage at the best of times. But when you’re floorboards are the exact same color as your feline roommate, that makes things so much more complicated than they need to be.

This person happens to have a ginger kitty and believe it or not, but the floorboards make him vanish in plain sight. We’re pretty sure there’s a cat in this photo, but we might have to check a few more times.

Sometimes, the camouflage needs to be seen to be believed. If someone makes a claim, you need to be patient and let them prove themselves. According to the person who posted this image, the first time their friend visited their apartment, she was completely surprised.

This was because her shower curtain was a spitting image of her shirt’s design. It wasn’t the one she was wearing. But the following week, she returned with the shirt she was talking about and she did not disappoint.

This is certainly not the strongest example of camouflage on this list, but it deserves to be here nonetheless. At face value, this appears to be a proud dad going out fishing with his kids. By the looks of it, they had a pretty successful day, catching this beauty.

Seeing that the dad’s shorts are a similar color to the water, it almost makes it look like he’s a merman who helped these mere mortals catch something.

Oh my, what happened to this guy’s ankles? They seem to have vanished into thin air! Don’t worry though, it is nothing more than an optical illusion (kind of). Truth be told, this guy’s socks and the carpet he is working on appear to have the exact same color scheme and pattern!

What are the odds that this could possibly happen? Amazingly though, we are more curious as to why this guy has two pairs of shoes in his office.

Here is another example of one of our feline friends who is able to blend into a specific kind of background because their fur perfectly matches the design. This cat is what one would describe as a “tortoiseshell cat.”

This is because the colors in its fur resemble the patterns of tortoiseshell. Those blacks, browns and ginger notes help make this cat the master of camouflage, at least when it’s sitting on this specific flight of stairs.

You might be thinking to yourself, “Oh my God. What happened to this guy’s upper body?” However, when you take a closer look, you will see that he is simply wearing a shirt that has a very similar pattern and color scheme to the furniture he is sitting on.

There is no doubt in our minds that this must have been an awesome conversation starter at this house party. All he had to do was sit back and pose for the camera.

To be fair, this is far from the most difficult example of extreme camouflage on this list. However, we couldn’t help but include because of how cute it is. The person who took this photo was amused by how their pet parrot felt the need to hang out with the bananas, which were pretty much the same color as they are.

“Four pet bananas,” the person wrote. “If I’m not mistaken.” Yes, as far as we can see, you are not.

It’s amazing how people can be in the right place at the right time and end up blending into the backgrounds. The irony in this image is that these three musicians have all eyes on them as they perform in front of a sold-out crowd. They inadvertently displayed some true national pride.

“Played at an Irish bar last night,” one of the band members wrote on social media. “Accidentally dressed as the flag behind us. It was dubbed “Camouflage Show” by someone in the crowd.”

They say that you can tell a lot about a person based on the kind of shoes that they wear. At least, we’re pretty sure that Forrest Gump said that. At any rate, if that is the case, this person is certainly an interesting character wearing these loud, flowery shoes.

Also, one can assume that they are either a master of camouflage or, they seriously want to stand out and simply can’t catch a break. This carpet is the exact same design!

There is a good reason why this image is so far down this list. After all, many of us aren’t a fan of creepy crawlies. With that said, the following bug is a sight to behold, especially since it is so good at blending in with the pebbles surrounding it.

Look at all of those black, white, green, yellow, and red colors, the entire rainbow can be seen in his image and the flying creature seems to exhibit all of those colors in some kind of way.

Isn’t this the trippiest thing you have ever seen in your life? In most of these images, an object or living creature is able to blend into the background, whether it be a wall, some trees or some kind of surface.

However, this image is unique in that the sign hanging on this tilted power is able to blend in with the sky! How rad is that? Go on, look a little closer. You will see the square sign soon enough.