Researchers at UNSW Canberra in Australia believe they have cracked one of the secrets that allow the ungainly bumblebee to fly so dexterously. And they think that may have an application to the next generation of drones. Bumblebees apparently have a keen sense of their own size. And that allows them to fly through complex and cluttered environments without crashing or wrecking their delicate wings. It’s a possible learning moment for an autonomous drone. The lead author, Dr. Sridhar Ravi, examined how bumblebees flew through a tunnel blocked by a series of different-sized gates. The bees are so aware of their size that they knew how to contort themselves to get through smaller openings. This awareness was believed to be a characteristic only of animals with large brains. We were amazed to see that in some instances, the bumblebees reorientated themselves sideways to fly through gaps they were unable to attempt head-on.