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Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Could Humans Use Grasshoppers’ Secrets to Jump Higher?
Frontiers for Young Minds, Vol.12, pp.1-9
2024
Abstract
For humans, the ability to jump is an indicator of physical fitness and the ability to move well. To figure out how to jump higher, one solution is to look at animals that do it very well, like grasshoppers. These animals have a tiny mechanism in their knees that works like a sling and enables them to jump very high. Given how well this sling-like mechanism works, could bigger animals—or humans—use it to make huge jumps? The answer, surprisingly, is no: increasing body size makes animals better at producing energy with sling-like mechanisms, but it also increases the energy required to achieve the same jump height. By reading this article, you will learn how physics and geometry help biologists answer a question about how animals move. Let us jump right in!
Details
- Title
- Could Humans Use Grasshoppers’ Secrets to Jump Higher?
- Authors
- Luca Ruggiero (Corresponding Author) - University of KonstanzFrancesco Luciano (Author) - University of MilanMarkus Gruber (Author) - University of KonstanzChristofer J. Clemente (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Publication details
- Frontiers for Young Minds, Vol.12, pp.1-9
- Publisher
- Frontiers Research Foundation
- Date published
- 2024
- DOI
- 10.3389/frym.2024.1361925
- ISSN
- 2296-6846
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2024 Ruggiero, Luciano, Gruber and Clemente. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991066166102621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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