Science
Related: About this forumThis Insect Has The Only Mechanical Gears Ever Found in Nature
And I for one welcome our new Robot Insect Overlords
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2013/09/this-insect-has-the-only-mechanical-gears-ever-found-in-nature/
As it turns out, though, a three-millimeter long hopping insect known as Issus coleoptratus beat us to this invention. Malcolm Burrows and Gregory Sutton, a pair of biologists from the University of Cambridge in the U.K., discovered that juveniles of the species have an intricate gearing system that locks their back legs together, allowing both appendages to rotate at the exact same instant, causing the tiny creatures jump forward.
The finding, which was published today in Science, is believed to be the first functional gearing system ever discovered in nature. Insects from the Issus genus, which are commonly called planthoppers, are found throughout Europe and North Africa. Burrows and Sutton used electron microscopes and high-speed video capture to discover the existence of the gearing and figure out its exact function.
The reason for the gearing, they say, is coordination: To jump, both of the insects hind legs must push forward at the exact same time. Because they both swing laterally, if one were extended a fraction of a second earlier than the other, itd push the insect off course to the right or left, instead of jumping straight forward.
BootinUp
(47,144 posts)drm604
(16,230 posts)People just don't (or won't) understand how powerful natural selection is.
krispos42
(49,445 posts)...so maybe God needs to spend more time in mechanical engineering school.
burrowowl
(17,641 posts)cui bono
(19,926 posts)Unlike "you bet your bippy", which should never be uttered again.
DreamGypsy
(2,252 posts)...with a four-speed transmission:
Homo sapiens has invented nothing...except hubris and stupidity....imho...
Recursion
(56,582 posts)Say, their predators adapted to expect them to leap forward. A mutation that enlarged one set of gears, producing a differential, would be advantageous, and in a few years...
Evolution is so cool.
formercia
(18,479 posts)It wasn't GM that invented it after all.
Plucketeer
(12,882 posts)Studebaker started offering "Twin Traction" as an option in 1957. And they got it thru the merger with Packard. The rears were actually produced by Dana-Spicer FOR Studebaker-Packard corporation.
formercia
(18,479 posts)I owned a Studebaker Golden Hawk with a Packard V8 for a while.
Plucketeer
(12,882 posts)Great all American (and Canadian) cars.
Solly Mack
(90,766 posts)nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)worth watching with this in mind.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)Hubert Flottz
(37,726 posts)So a tiny bug can do what the Koch party can't. Proves that republicans are not geared for forward progress.
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts).