A horse can gallop at a speed of up to 50KM per hour. Although this involves considerable mechanical work, relatively little energy is spent. How is this possible? The secret is in the horses leg. Consider what occurs when a horse gallops. Elastic muscle-tendon units absorb energy when the leg steps onto the ground, and much like a spring, they return it, propelling the horse forward. Furthermore, at a gallop the horses legs vibrate at high frequencies that could injure its tendons. However, the muscle in the legs act as damper. Researchers call this structure a highly specialised muscle-tendon design that provides both agility and strenght. Engineers are trying to imitate the design of the horses legs for use in four-legged robots. However, according to Biometric Robotics Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the complexity of this design cannot be easily duplicated with current materials and engineering knowledge. WHAT DO YOU THINK? Did the structure of the horses legs come about by evolution? Or was it designed culled from the back page of Awake, Jehova Withness magazine of October, 2014. Uduareye Oniruduna Sugaba, i couldnt tag you in the post. I hope you see this.
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 22:05:06 +0000
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