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How to Walk on Water and Climb up Walls

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How to Walk on Water and Climb up Walls

Animal Movement and the Robots of the Future

Princeton UP,

15 min read
10 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

Ever heard of a robot that weighs a third of a gram and can walk on water?

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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Scientific
  • Concrete Examples

Recommendation

David L. Hu’s exploration of animal movement, its study, and its application to robotics and medicine is a joy to read – informed, witty, unpretentious and original. He cites numerous fascinating, bizarre twists from studying animal movement. For example, some professors fear three-day holiday weekends because the extra day gives laboratory fire ants more time to figure out how to escape. Hu covers many such evocative images and facts about animal locomotion and the implications of related research to engage anyone interested in the hidden realities of animal and human life and the intersection of robotics and natural movement.

Summary

Animal Movement

All animals must move. Evolutionarily, movement developed to get access to energy in the form of food. Animals use movement to navigate different conditions, such as pursuing prey or evading threats.

The study of animal movement expanded in the early 20th century with applied mathematics and new imaging technologies, such as the first uses of strobe photography in the 1930s. Each advance in imaging technologies furthers animal movement studies.

Current animal movement studies happen at the intersection of imaging, robotics, computing, fluid dynamics and other disciplines.

How Do They Walk on Water, Slither, Swim or Fly?

Because water strider insects weigh only 10 milligrams [3/1,000ths of an ounce], they can use surface tension to walk on water. Their legs are covered with tiny grooved hairs that repel water and trap air to enable this feat. Their rowing motion takes only 1/100th of a second, so scientists must study it with high-speed cameras. Scientists use “flow visualization” – that is, adding something...

About the Author

David L. Hu, PhD, is associate professor of fluid dynamics at Georgia Tech.

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