Tag: scaling

“Ant Power Unleashed: The Secret of Muscle and Scale”

Image credit: Pixabay (adopted from Leuzinger 2022)

Ever wondered how ants generate such extraordinary force despite their size? Beyond curiosity, understanding their biomechanics can inspire real-world advancements in fields like micro-robotics, bio-engineering, materials science, and prosthetics. Discover how these tiny powerhouses hold the key to strength, efficiency, and adaptability.

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What Makes and Breaks the World’s Tallest Trees

Trees have the potential to be the largest organisms on Earth. The world’s tallest tree, dubbed Hyperion, is 380 ft tall and weighs over 1,600,000 lbs. Compared this to the world’s largest animal, a particularly massive blue whale which was 100 ft long and weighed 380,000 lbs, the simply massive size of this tree should be obvious. And unlike a whale, a tree is much less likely collapse and crush itself under its own weight. Trees need to be tall, even if doing so consumes a lot of resources, in order to compete for sunlight. So what lets trees get this big, and what limits their height?

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