The New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology team based in Socorro is repurposing taxidermied birds as drones to study the mechanism of flight. Yes, I know, this is really creepy, and wait to see how these things fly.
From Reuters:
Dr. Mostafa Hassanalian, a mechanical engineering professor who is leading the project, had found that artificial, mechanical birds had not given the results he was looking for. “We came up with this idea that we can use … dead birds and make them (into) a drone,” he said. “Everything is there … we do reverse engineering.” Taxidermy bird drones – currently being tested in a purpose-built cage at the university – can be used to understand better the formation and flight patterns of flocks. That in turn can be applied to the aviation industry, said Hassanalian.
Here’s another video: