Via Danger Room

Stanford University researchers have already figured out how to build a drone that can land on the side of a wall, perch there for a while, and then take back off into air again. The Pentagon would like to make its robotic aircraft even more bird-like. The military recently handed out a trio of contracts to design legs that will let these “micro air vehicles” hang onto a branch in high winds, and run around on the ground if need be. The question is whether these Pentagon-backed firms can top Stanford’s already-impressive results.