A new kind of robot swims the seas and soars the skies
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DANIEL: So much power that most diving birds are unable to generate it, which is why they take off by using their legs to run along the water's surface. Zufferey calls up a video he and his colleagues filmed at Lake Geneva in Switzerland. There's a ripple at the surface. Then the robot bursts out of the water and into the air in less than a second. It sounds like, honestly, a lot like a bird taking flight.

(SOUNDBITE OF MECHANICAL WINGS FLAPPING)

DANIEL: The research describing the engineering of the robot is published in the journal Science.

GLENNA CLIFTON: This is a beautiful robot (laughter). It is light and powerful and a monumental step in the performance at both swimming, flying and transitioning between the two.

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