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Feb. 17, 2011
Secret To The Leap? Not The Flea's Knees
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Fleas are admirable jumpers -- a talent that humans have recognized for thousands of years, according to engineer Greg Sutton. Yet, until this week, exactly how fleas propel themselves wasn't understood. Sutton and Malcolm Burrows, of the University of Cambridge, filmed fleas jumping, analyzed flea anatomy, made mathematical models and cracked the flea leap mystery. It's not in the knees.
insect footage, images: Malcolm Burrows, Greg Sutton
FEATURED READING
Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction
by Annalee Newitz
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