Ratio Forum Spring 2022 - David Hu – Animal physics: eyelashes to cubic poo
Channel: Ratio BG
Date: 27/12/2022

Description in English follows below.

Как котките успяват да се почистят само с език? Как кучетата се сушат само за няколко секунди, а на нашите сушилни им трябва половин час? Защо въобще са ни мигли? Как слонът може да вземе парченце чипс с масивния си хобот, без да го счупи? Как насекомите ходят по вода и как точно пълзят змиите? Кое животно произвежда изпражнения с перфектна кубична форма и защо?

Отговорите на тези въпроси са в сферата на животинската биомеханика – и д-р Дейвид Ху ще ни ги сподели. Той ще обясни и как използваме високоскоростни камери, за да разкрием тайните на движението при животните и как тези отговори помагат на инженерите да създават изобретения, вдъхновени от природата. Представете си само: четка за коса тип “котешко езиче”, гъвкави уреди за бране на плодове или роботи, които могат да ходят по вода!

--- English ---


How do cats clean their bodies with only their tongues?  How does a dog shake its body dry in just a single second whereas our drying machines take over 30 minutes?  Why do we have eyelashes?  How does an elephant pick up a tortilla chip without breaking it?  How long does an elephant take to urinate?  What animal makes cube-shaped poop and why?

Answers to these questions fall in the area of animal biomechanics. Learn how we use high-speed and time-lapse photography to understand the secrets of animal movement, and how these answers are helping engineers build new nature-inspired devices.  Think cat-tongue-inspired hairbrush, flexible arms to pick up fruit, and robots that walk on water.

--- About the speaker ---
Dr. David Hu is a mechanical engineer who studies the interactions of animals with water. He has discovered how dogs shake dry, how insects walk on water, and how eyelashes protect the eyes from drying. He earned degrees in mathematics and mechanical engineering from M.I.T., and is now Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Biology and Adjunct Professor of Physics at Georgia Tech. He is a recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER award for young scientists, the Ig Nobel Prize in Physics, the Pineapple Science Prize (the Ig Nobel of China). He is the author of the book „How to walk on water and climb up walls,“ published by Princeton University Press which earned him the American Institute of Physics Science Communication award.