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And how about the bumblebee's impossibility of flight myth? I've also hear it regarding generic 'beetle', and with specific beetles. I always thought it was pretty obvious that we just didn't understand the aerodynamics, or aerodynamics per se, enough. I mean, there's a special kind of insect that gets to bend the laws of physics? Really?

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From the first time I heard this bit of folklore as a child, I assumed the message was not that bumblebees are magic, but that our scientific models will likely always need continued revising. The argument as to whether we actually do understand bumblebee flight is interesting to entomology, but doesn't really impact the point of the myth.

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