They reveal the mystery jump smart

Cambridge University scientists have solved the mystery of why fleas jump far and so fast.

Energy known catapult chip at a distance of 200 times its body length is a structure like a spring in your body.

But scientists do not understand how these tiny insects move this energy on Earth to be encouraged.

Images captured on high-speed now reveal the secret lies in the way that chips use their legs as articulated levers.

This "leverage" allows chips carry their legs on the ground and release energy as a spring forward and upward suddenly, scientists claim in the journal of Experimental Biology (Journal of Experimental Biology).

The smart jump a distance of 200 times its size.

A half century ago two groups of researchers has discovered that energy which gave insects such amazing jumping ability was contained in an internal spring and not in their tiny muscles.

This discovery gave rise to two opposing on agility for pests theories. While chips conjecturé group pushing upward with his knees, the other says spring deflection occurred in the joints of the legs, pushing chip legs on the ground. "Quill" position, the insect could jump upwards.

Dr. Gregory Sutton and Professor Malcolm Burrows, Cambridge University, who led the new research, wanted to put an end to the conflict.

Sutton, whose research was funded by the programme research frontiers should the future design of robots that can jump like insects.

"If you look at the actions and movements of animals, are much better than modern machines," he told the BBC. If I was interested in studying how these movements are generated. »

Unlike its predecessors, Sutton released the first pieces of anatomical studies detailed chipset.

They showed that there are relatively large spikes near insect legs and these structures could conduct ground for traction.

A greater revelation came from high speed shots catch with care in a week that researchers should find a way to convince a smart to jump at the time and the appropriate angle.

This shows us how little we know about insects

Dr. Gregory Sutton

"Finally we saw that fried chips not if she was dark," said Sutton. "If we apagábamos lights and home of the chip on the plan." "While we encendíamos lights and the chip has jumped on the plane of the camera."

When researchers have developed the trajectory of each segment of the chip, it coincides exactly with the trajectory made in 1967 by a British scientist named Henry Bennet-Clark.

Some aspects of agility chips are not clear.

"They always jump in the same direction and why we think they may be limited," said the researcher for the BBC. And we do not know how the chip retains his legs in a position when it gathers momentum.

Sutton, said: "it shows us how little we know about [capacity of] common insect". "."

The teeth on the legs allow the join ground chips to take momentum.

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