Among the gliding animals, the colugo or “flying” lemur of Southeast Asia is the champ. It’s able to glide the length of two football fields with its doormat-sized skin flaps. Researchers are strapping small backpacks to these animals to find out how they do it without injuring themselves. The devices in the backpacks, which measure acceleration, have motion-detecting technology similar to that in Wii remote controllers, which allow electronic game players to simulate the swing of a golf club or baseball bat.