Snake scales

Scales is key to the snakes in a move that can prevent slipping while on slippery surfaces. Hamid concluded Marvi, a biologist from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, USA, after doing research tekait functions snake scales.

In the first experiment, Marvi anesthetize snakes are moving and tilting motion of the surface so that the snake fell off. Meanwhile, a second experiment, Marvi disturb the snake's motion to be dropped without him sedated.

In each experiment, Marvi measure the angle and the coefficient of friction is created between the scales and the surface motion. The results showed that the coefficient of friction when the serpent realized 2-fold greater than when anesthetized snakes.

"When the snake did not realize, no controls, no response, no sensory system. But when the snake came to, he could feel. I'm moving so I had to do something. There is an active mechanism involved," said Marvi told New Scientist , Friday (03/02/2012).

So is the matter of the angle between the scales and surfaces, snakes manage to create the most optimal angle to prevent slipping and falling. "By adjusting the initial angle of motion, the snake can adjust the friction force," said Marvi, who presented research findings at the American Physical Society meeting in Boston.

At first glance, the research about these scales tanpak dreamily and pointless. However, Marvi and his colleagues succeeded in applying it to design a robot, called Scalybot. With the knowledge about snake scales, scientists were able to develop an optimal design of robot climber.