Navigation Links
MIT solves gravity-defying bird beak mystery
Date:5/15/2008

a tweezering motion.

To unravel the mystery, Bush teamed up with Manu Prakash, a graduate student in MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms, and David Quere, of the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, a visiting professor in MIT's math department at the time of the study. They built a mechanical model of the phalarope beak that allowed them to study the process in slow motion.

The process depends on a surface interaction known as contact angle hysteresis, typically an impediment to drop motion on solids. For example, raindrops stick to window panes due to contact angle hysteresis. In the case of the bird beak, the time-dependent beak geometry couples with contact angle hysteresis to propel the drop upward.

This may be the first known example where droplet motion is enabled rather than resisted by contact angle hysteresis, Bush said.

As the beak scissors open and shut, each movement propels the water droplet one step closer to the bird's mouth. Specifically, when the beak closes, the drop's leading edge proceeds toward the mouth, while the trailing edge stays put. When the beak opens, the leading edge stays in place while the trailing edge recedes toward the mouth.

In this stepwise ratcheting fashion, the drop travels along the beak at a speed of about 1 meter per second.

The efficiency of the process, which the authors dub the capillary ratchet, depends on the beak shape: Long, narrow beaks are best suited to this mode of feeding. The study highlights the sensitivity of this mechanism to the opening and closing angles of the beak: Varying these angles by a few degrees can change the drop speed by a factor of 10, Quere said.

The capillary ratchet also depends critically on the beak's wettability--a measure of a liquid's tendency to bead up into droplets or spread out to wet its surface. Oil is much more wetting than water, so if the beak is soaked in oil from a spill, this process won't work.

The researc
'/>"/>

Contact: Elizabeth Thomson
thomson@mit.edu
617-258-5402
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Source:Eurekalert

1

GOOD

Page: 1 2 3

Related biology news :

1. JILA solves problem of quantum dot blinking
2. Magnetic snakes control fluids, gravity-defying droplets, and solving a dragonfly mystery
3. Scientists tackle mystery mountain illness
4. Folate mystery finally solved
5. Men shed light on the mystery of human longevity, study finds
6. Cassini on the trail of a runaway mystery
7. Time-sharing tropical birds key to evolutionary mystery
8. 480-million-year-old fossil sheds light on 150-year-old paleontological mystery
9. ASU professor helps solve mystery of glassy water
10. Ancient mystery solved
11. UCLA researchers solve decade-old mystery
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
(Date:5/24/2013)... LA After studying noise in one French Quarter ... noise levels exceeded municipal ordinances, Annette Hurley, PhD, Assistant ... Orleans, and Eric Arriaga, a third-year LSUHSC doctor of ... protect their own hearing health. Their case study is ... for Hearing Practice Management ., "An important part of ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... popular fruit, can be made both better-tasting and longer-lasting ... , "Working with GM tomatoes that are different to ... compound, allows us to pinpoint exactly how to breed ... John Innes Centre. , The research could also lead ... life characteristics because even higher levels of the compounds ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... mechanism by which estrogen suppresses lipid synthesis in the ... approach toward treating certain liver diseases. , With ... are changing long-held views in the field. Study results ... Science Signaling . , "The dogma in the ... only receptors located in the nucleus respond to steroid ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Please do try this at home 2The world's favorite fruit only better-tasting and longer-lasting 2UCI study reveals new mechanism for estrogen suppression of liver lipid synthesis 2
... Calif., April 5, 2011 Ennova Direct, Inc. (DBA ... patent portfolio for sale that is focused on ... Drive Devices, MP3 Players (wired and Wireless Bluetooth™) and ... property includes 6 issued US patents (US 6,979,210, ...
... N.C. Tens of thousands of albatrosses and other far-ranging ... longline fishing gear. Innovative new models developed by a Duke ... more precisely projecting where and when birds and boats are ... physical and biological data to predict changing conditions such ...
... The number of endangered leatherback sea turtle nests at 68 ... since 1979, according to a new Duke University-led study published ... . Some beaches posted annual increases of more than ... population boom of turtle nests in the Sunshine State mirrors ...
Cached Biology News:Ennova Direct Announces the Sale of its Consumer Electronics/Computer Peripheral Patent Portfolio 2New models may reduce seabird bycatch 2Leatherback sea turtle nests increasing in Florida 2
(Date:5/23/2013)... 24, 2013 Die Übersetzungen wurden ... Bei der englischen Version handelt es ... % der Teilnehmer einer groß angelegten Asthmaumfrage halten ihren ... GINA [*] -Definition [1] als kontrolliert gelten können ... generell einer von vier Denkweisen zugeordnet werden können, die ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... (PRWEB) May 23, 2013 Can economic ... from work motivate members of the public to increase ... including Johns Hopkins Carey Business School Assistant ... yes. Pointing to a large body of recent research ... the May 24, 2013, issue of Science that the ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... -- Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) and StemCyte, Inc., a ... and therapeutics, announced today that StemCyte has become an ... car driven by James Jakes . ... 2013 season.   StemCyte, Inc. and Rahal Letterman ... umbilical cord blood banking and its educational initiative ,Stars ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... , May 23, 2013  Saddleback Memorial Medical ... recently became the first hospital on the West Coast ... This new surgical option provides women with a state-of-the-art, ... Marc Winter , M.D., a highly ... surgeon and medical director of minimally invasive surgery at ...
Breaking Biology Technology:Neue Forschungsergebnisse zeigen Verbindung zwischen suboptimaler Asthmaversorgung und Patienteneinstellungen in Europa auf 2Neue Forschungsergebnisse zeigen Verbindung zwischen suboptimaler Asthmaversorgung und Patienteneinstellungen in Europa auf 3Neue Forschungsergebnisse zeigen Verbindung zwischen suboptimaler Asthmaversorgung und Patienteneinstellungen in Europa auf 4Neue Forschungsergebnisse zeigen Verbindung zwischen suboptimaler Asthmaversorgung und Patienteneinstellungen in Europa auf 5Neue Forschungsergebnisse zeigen Verbindung zwischen suboptimaler Asthmaversorgung und Patienteneinstellungen in Europa auf 6Neue Forschungsergebnisse zeigen Verbindung zwischen suboptimaler Asthmaversorgung und Patienteneinstellungen in Europa auf 7Offering Economic Incentives to Attract Blood Donations Should Be Encouraged, Research Team writes in Science 2Offering Economic Incentives to Attract Blood Donations Should Be Encouraged, Research Team writes in Science 3StemCyte, Inc. Joins Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing As Associate Sponsor Of No. 16 IndyCar Program For James Jakes Beginning With The 97th Indianapolis 500 2StemCyte, Inc. Joins Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing As Associate Sponsor Of No. 16 IndyCar Program For James Jakes Beginning With The 97th Indianapolis 500 3Saddleback Memorial Surgeon First on the West Coast to Perform Single-Site Robotic Hysterectomy 2Saddleback Memorial Surgeon First on the West Coast to Perform Single-Site Robotic Hysterectomy 3
... , ATLANTA, Sept. 14 CryoLife, Inc. ... medical device and cardiovascular tissue processing company, announced today that it ... Conference at the Grand Hyatt New York in New York City. ... executive officer of CryoLife, Inc., will present Monday, September 21 at ...
... , NATICK, Mass., Sept. ... ) today announced that it has entered into a ... company offering advanced testing solutions for urinary incontinence. ... combines staffing, equipment, supplies and results analysis, helping to ...
... , HOLDEN, Mass., Sept. ... appointment of Elkan Gamzu, Ph.D. as Chairman to its ... years of pharmaceutical and biotechnology experience and has held ... President of Project Management at Millenium Pharmaceuticals, CEO of ...
Cached Biology Technology:CryoLife to Present at UBS Global Life Sciences Conference 2Boston Scientific's Urology/Gynecology Business Forms Marketing Alliance with Bladder Health Network 2Boston Scientific's Urology/Gynecology Business Forms Marketing Alliance with Bladder Health Network 3Elkan Gamzu, Ph.D. Joins Hygeia Therapeutics' Board of Directors as Chair 2
Hamster serum...
... Labeling System - dCTP with CyScribe ... the generation and purification of Cy3- ... together for complete cDNA labeling and ... used for performing labeling reactions with ...
... CyScribe First-Strand cDNA Labeling System ... Kit, 50 reactions. For the generation ... cDNA.Optimized reagents are packaged together for ... optimized protocols can be used for ...
... 9001:2000 Certified USDA Research Registered OLAW Assured ... Training AALAS Certified Technicians Documentation ... Documentation Upon Request Focus CRP ... all your custom immunology service needs. ...
Biology Products: