I***i
发帖数: 14557 | 1 http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=mosqui
Mosquitoes Navigate Rain by Not Caring
Mosquitoes are so light that speeding raindrops simply brush them aside
without imparting much force. Karen Hopkin reports
June 5, 2012
Have you ever wondered what happens to mosquitoes in the rain? A raindrop is
, like, 50 times heavier than those little suckers. So getting hit by one
has gotta hurt, right?
Well, not so much. Because researchers at Georgia Tech have found that the
bugs are so light, speeding water drops simply brush them aside, without
imparting much force. The results appear in the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences. [Andrew K. Dickerson et al., "Mosquitoes survive
raindrop collisions by virtue of their low mass"]
Previous studies have shown that precipitation can be a real pain for lots
of winged critters. Bats expend twice as much energy flying through a storm
as in clear skies. But what about bugs no bigger than the raindrops
themselves?
Researchers used high-speed video to watch mosquitoes wingin’ in the rain—
well, through a spray of mist in the lab. They saw that when a skeeter and a
water droplet meet, the insect basically hitches a ride for a bit before
peeling away off unharmed.
So the bugs go with the flow and offer little resistance. And the drop slows
only slightly, keeping its kinetic energy rather than blasting the bug. So
for storm-trooping skeeters, resistance is not only futile. It’s all wet. | I***i
发帖数: 14557 | |
|
