A leading biologist has found the angels and fairies that sit at top of Christmas trees did not get there under their own power.
Prof Roger Wotton, from University College London, found that flight would be impossible for angels with arms and bird-like feathered wings.
"Angels cannot take off and cannot use powered flight,” said Prof Wotton. “They would need to be exposed to very high wind velocities at take off - such high winds that they would be blown away."
Some the world’s most famous religious paintings and architecture make most Americans believe in angels.
The study found that 68 per cent of the 36,000 adults thought that angels and demons (魔鬼) were at work in the world.
According to the latest study, angels lack the powerful muscles which allow birds to beat their wings. Prof Wotton's paper explores why there are so many stories about angels. “Angels are very powerful religious icons for people with faith. Their similarity to humans adds to their power. At the same time, they have wings on them because they are more than human. They take messages to heaven and therefore have to fly.” said the academic.
