AskNature

Tiny leg hairs help spiders sense subtle air movement by conducting it directly to nerve cells.

The tree-hole frog amplifies the sound of its call by adjusting its pitch to match the resonant frequency of its surroundings.

When pelican wings glide close to water, they use “ground effect” to maximize lift, minimize drag, and conserve energy.

Common reeds and other wetland plants transport gases through a network of spaces between their cells.

When bull snakes and their relatives bellow in defense, tissue boosts air flow as it passes over a single vocal cord to create an initial burst of sound.

Flying squirrels have membranes and cartilage that help them change lift and drag forces, enabling them to glide more than 100 times their body length.

Microscopic scales provide lift to nature’s “flying flowers.”

The Eurasian diving bell spider uses silk and goo to make an airy home for itself beneath the surface of a pond.

These fruit-eating bats home in on a meal by aiming sound waves to the side of their intended target, then adjusting their path to reduce the difference in timing between the waves bouncing back.

Water striders communicate with each other using body parts that send and sense slight vibrations in the water around them.

A shellfish structure that looks like a meal attracts erstwhile predators, which then become unwitting nannies and bus drivers for the sedentary animal’s offspring.

Plovers fake having a broken wing in order to lead predators away from their nest and protect their young.

A closable gap in the beak of a gannet, instead of open nostrils, prevents water from rushing in during high-speed dives.

Caterpillars use stitches made with contracting silk threads to roll leaves into a tube-shaped shelter 

The common eastern firefly produces light through a chemical reaction that energizes a molecule so it can release a photon.

Quick movement dries mammalian fur by ejecting droplets using centripetal force.

Anglerfish have light-absorbing skin to keep hidden while they attract prey with a glowing lure.

Horizontal eye stalks allow eyes to rotate forward, creating a wider field of binocular vision.

The leaves of rosette succulents intercept water droplets from fog through their waxy, smooth surface.

The nanostructure of some spider silk proteins prevents bacterial attachment

Obstacles placed in the path of sediment-laden water reduce the speed of flow, allowing debris from wildfires to settle out and improving water quality downstream.

Anaerobic bacteria use a broad and diverse range of chemical pathways to synthesize ATP.

The sizes of the active sites on railroad worms’ luciferase enzymes controls the energy level, and hence color, of the light they produce.

A complex series of joints enables earwig wings to spring from folded to flight without the use of muscles.

The bigger barbules and higher number of microscopic prongs on the down of eider ducks trap more heat than other feathers.

In the face of environmental stress, birds with fewer chances to breed suppress their stress response, keeping their focus on reproduction instead of survival.

The wrist joints of the hummingbird enable hovering by rotating back and forth.

Birds use infinite combinations of just two colors to mimic other species’ eggs or to distinguish their own eggs from invaders.

Birds evaluate external threats, their previous success, and the success of others in determining where and how to build their nests.

The shape of the kingfisher beak allows it to dive into the water without splashing.

Hummingbirds produce lift and sound on both the downstroke and upstroke of their wingbeats, creating a steady musical hum instead of the pulsing whoosh of larger birds.

Exposure to adults as juveniles prompts zebra finches to build their first nests faster.

The blood vessel network in the tongues of gray whales precools blood to avoid heat loss via counter-current heat exchange.

Chamber-cored fibers capture sunlight, gather heat, and retain both to keep their owner warm.

Cacti’s corrugated shapes create pockets of shaded, cooler air that help them shed body heat.

Elephants direct blood flow to their skin surface in areas scattered over their bodies to dissipate excess body heat. 

Leaves of the sensitive plant protect themselves from predators and environmental conditions by folding in response to touch.

Bees and wasps build space-efficient and strong nests using hexagonal cells.

Blood-filled sinuses within the eye sockets of horned lizards squirt blood in self-defense by swelling and rupturing.

The seed heads of sunflowers optimize the packing of seeds by growing florets in a spiraling pattern connected to the golden ratio and Fibonacci sequence.

The pupil of nocturnal geckos enables clear vision in extreme light conditions by becoming very large at night and constricting to a thin slit with several pinholes during the day.

The silica skeleton of the Venus’ flower basket sea sponge is tough and stable because multiple levels of organization each help to manage forces.

Iguanas repeatedly deplete and then regrow bone during and following times of food stress.

Caterpillars use stitches made with contracting silk threads to roll leaves into a tube-shaped shelter 

Shrimp’s attack club distributes impact among spiraled layers of fibers

Nanostructures on Darkling beetle wings and certain body positions help condense water from humid air.

The structure of above-ground macrotermite mounds facilitates gas exchange in the below-ground nest using internal air currents driven by solar heat.

Specialized feathers of the owl enable near-silent flight by altering air turbulence and absorbing noise.

Fur of mammals is optimally dried by changing shaking frequency.

The soft, fluid-filled flexible body of the earthworm enables it to burrow through soil using its unique set of muscles and internal fluid to maintain shape.

Catalysts in the chloroplasts of photosynthesizing plants help split water by binding water molecules and separating protons and electrons.

Chemicals in fungi break down contaminants.

The shell of a tortoise withstands pressure through interlocking scutes of various shapes consisting of both rigid and flexible layers.