Wings that can vary their shapes as freely as birds’ wings could have advantages for small aircraft in built environments, a new study led by engineers at
The way an elephant manipulates its trunk to eat and drink could lead to better robots, researchers say.
Elephants dilate their nostrils to create more space in their trunks, allowing them to store up to 5.5 liters (1.45 gallons) of water, according to their new study.
They can also suck up three liters (0.79 gallons) per second a speed 30 times faster than a human sneeze (150 meters per second/330 mph), the researchers found.
The researchers wanted to better understand the physics of how elephants use their trunks to move and manipulate air, water, food, and other objects. They also wanted to learn if the mechanics could inspire the creation of more efficient robots that use air motion to hold and move things.
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A tusker’s proboscis can also switch to vacuum mode to eat, with suction power ranging from faint to ferocious. AFP
Suck it up: Study probes elephants’ suction powers
Wed, 2 June 2021
Elephants are known to use versatile trunks to grab objects big and small, drink great draughts, and sniff out water kilometres away.
But a tusker’s proboscis can also switch to vacuum mode to eat, with suction power ranging from faint to ferocious, researchers said on June 2.
A team from the Georgia Institute of Technology observed the world’s largest land mammal suck up rutabaga, draw chia seeds out of water, and pick up large tortilla chips without breaking them, the scientists reported in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.