Some snakes have developed the ability to glide through the air. For example, paradise tree snakes in Southeast Asia can take off from a branch and fly up to 10 meters. Scientists have known that snakes flatten their bodies to gain strength, but new research reveals that they also undulate their bodies as they glide to stay stable. Johns Hopkins University mechanical engineer Isaac Yeaton and his colleagues at Virginia Tech placed reflective tape on the snakes’ bodies and then used high-speed cameras to record their movements in the air. From Science News:
Sliding snakes undulate their bodies from side to side and top to bottom, the researchers found, and move their tails above and below the level of their heads.
Once the researchers mapped the snakes’ stunts, they created a computer simulation of gliding snakes. In the simulation, the undulating snakes flew similarly to real-life snakes. But those who didn’t squirm failed spectacularly, turning to the side or falling head over tail, instead of maintaining a sleek and stable glide.
If you limit yourself to a single plane instead of writhing in three dimensions, the snakes would fall.
“The undulation allows to slide in flying snakes” (Physics of nature)
image: Sri Lanka Flying Snake by Gihan Jayaweera (CC BY-SA 3.0)
->
Humans are shipwrecked in an ocean of uncertainty. From the beginning of history, our ancestors sought knowledge and understanding about their lives, their relationship with the cosmos and perhaps take a look at their future. In such an effort, long before science’s answers, Earthlings developed a rich variety of divination practices and systems. Many ways […]
READ THE REST
NASA has funded a new collaborative research effort between Harvard, the Smithsonian Institutions and the University of Rochester to search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). This is NASA’s first grant for SETI in three decades and the first to look for signs of ET other than radio broadcasts. Instead, scientists will look […]
READ THE REST
In ten years, scientists hope to have mapped the entire ocean floor in high resolution. This week, the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project announced that they have completed 20 percent of the map. A complete mapping of “modern standards” is useful for conservation and also to support scientific understanding of ocean systems, climate, propagation of tsunami waves, […]
READ THE REST
The saying goes that everyone is looking to build a better mousetrap. In the case of Elementor, they decided to take a turn on WordPress, the platform used to build a third of the world’s websites and improve it. Four years later, there are already three million sites using Elementor, a WP plugin that […]
READ THE REST
Whether you work from home or from the office, some elements of routine are universal. Emails never stop. The meetings take too long. And a bad monitor makes your day monumentally more difficult to tolerate. Staring at a screen that is too small or that is not bright or sharp enough may suffice […]
READ THE REST
When you sit on your couch to watch TV, the volume of options is truly amazing. However, something strange happens once you start flipping page after page of Netflix tips and Amazon options. You invariably find yourself constantly considering the same set of giant Hollywood movies and America’s top television network. […]
READ THE REST
