A shuttlecock (also called a birdie or shuttle) is a high-drag projectile used in the sport of badminton. It has an open conical shape formed by feathers or plastic (or a synthetic alternative) embedded into a rounded cork (or rubber) base. The shuttlecock's shape makes it extremely aerodynamically stable. Regardless of initial orientation, it will turn to fly cork first, and remain in the cork-first orientation. Origins The object resembles a hawk's lure, used from ancient times in the training of hunting birds. It is frequently shortened to shuttle. The "shuttle" part of the name is derived from its back-and-forth motion during the game, resembling the shuttle of a 14th-century loom, while the "cock" part of the name is derived from the resemblance of the feathers to those on a rooster. Specifications A regulation standard shuttlecock weighs around . It has 16 feathers with each feather in length, and the diameter of the cork is . The diameter of the circle that the feathers make is around . Construction and materials A shuttlecock is formed from 16 or so overlapping feathers, usually goose or duck, embedded into a rounded cork base. Feathers are plucked from the wings of a live goose or duck, a method which has been deemed cruel by animal rights activists in recent years. The cork is covered with thin leather. To ensure satisfactory flight properties, it is considered preferable to use feathers from right or left wings only in each shuttlecock, and not mix feathers from different wings, as the feathers from different wings are shaped differently. Badminton companies make shuttlecock corks by sandwiching polyurethane between corks and/or using a whole piece of natural cork. With the first method, the cork becomes misshaped after use, while the cork in the latter method changes very little after use. This is because the structure of the shuttlecock is more durable when made with a single piece of natural cork. Feather or synthetic shuttlecocks The feathers are brittle; shuttlecocks break easily and often need to be replaced several times during a game. For this reason, synthetic shuttlecocks have been developed that replace the feathers with a plastic skirt. Players often refer to synthetic shuttlecocks as plastics and feathered shuttlecocks as ''feathers'. Feather shuttles need to be properly humidified for at least 4 hours prior to play in order to fly the correct distance at the proper speed and to