Octopuses Can Squeeze Their Bodies Through Tiny Holes, And Scientists Are in Awe
Researchers have filmed octopuses escaping through tight openings to document the step-by-step physical strategies the marine animals use. Scientists from the National University of Singapore, the University of Naples Federico II, and the Haus des Meeres aquarium observed that octopuses follow a consistent sequence of moves to slip their arms and bulbous bodies through narrow gaps. Wenci Xin from the National University of Singapore noted that the creatures change their body shape to squeeze through tiny holes almost like water flowing through a gap, rendering their overall size irrelevant to where they can travel.
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- ✓ Researchers from the National University of Singapore, the University of Naples Federico II, and the Haus des Meeres aquarium filmed marine animals escaping through tight openings.
- ✓ Wenci Xin from the National University of Singapore stated that octopuses can change their body shape to squeeze through tiny holes almost like water flowing through a gap.
- ✓ Scientists mapped how octopuses slip their arms and bulbous bodies through tiny holes using two distinct strategies and a consistent sequence of moves.
What changed
Researchers have mapped the specific, step-by-step strategies and consistent sequence of moves octopuses use to navigate unimaginably tight spaces.
Live updates
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Scientists Map How Octopuses Squeeze Through Tiny Holes
Researchers have filmed octopuses escaping through tight openings to document the step-by-step physical strategies the marine animals use. Scientists from the National University of Singapore, the University of Naples Federico II, and the Haus des Meeres aquarium observed that octopuses follow a consistent sequence of moves to slip their arms and bulbous bodies through narrow gaps. Wenci Xin from the National University of Singapore noted that the creatures change their body shape to squeeze through tiny holes almost like water flowing through a gap, rendering their overall size irrelevant to where they can travel.
Why it matters
Octopuses are well known for their extraordinary versatility, which includes walking on the seabed across eight arms, manipulating tools, and jetting through the water. Their lack of rigid skeletal structures enables extreme flexibility that almost defies belief. Understanding these biological shape-shifting mechanisms provides a blueprint that engineers can apply to the design and body plans of soft robots.
What is confirmed
- Researchers from the National University of Singapore, the University of Naples Federico II, and the Haus des Meeres aquarium filmed marine animals escaping through tight openings.
- Wenci Xin from the National University of Singapore stated that octopuses can change their body shape to squeeze through tiny holes almost like water flowing through a gap.
- Scientists mapped how octopuses slip their arms and bulbous bodies through tiny holes using two distinct strategies and a consistent sequence of moves.
What to watch next
- Engineers releasing new soft robot prototypes based on octopus squeezing mechanics
- Further biological studies detailing the exact muscle mechanics used during gap passage
confidence 100%Sources used for this update (15)
- www.yahoo.com — Yahoo
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- ScienceAlert — Octopuses Can Squeeze Their Bodies Through Tiny Holes, And Scientists Are in Awe
- The Washington Post — See how octopuses squeeze through tiny spaces
- Reuters — Octopuses follow two strategies to squeeze through tiny holes
- Popular Science — How do octopuses squeeze through tiny holes?
- Phys.org — How octopuses squeeze through too-small gaps
- NBC News — How octopuses squeeze through holes that seem impossibly tiny
- Science News — How octopuses squeeze through tiny openings, step by step
- IFLScience — Almost Every Hole Is A Goal For Octopuses. Now Scientists Have Figured Out How They Manage To Squeeze Through The Impossible
- www.sci.news — How Octopuses Squeeze Through Hole Smaller Than Their Body
- www.sciencealert.com — Octopuses Can Squeeze Their Bodies Through Tiny Holes, And ...
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