Science certainly investigates some odd things and in odd ways, but this one may just take the cake.
You know how ants have the reputation for being the strongest creatures on the planet pound for pound? (Or perhaps more accurately milligram for milligram)
Recent research has looked into how true this is…in a very odd way.
It is estimated that ants can carry about 1000 times their weight. To test this, Castro, Nguyen and Lilly anesthetized ants and glued their heads into a centrifuge.
They then sped this centrifuge faster and faster until the ant body ripped from its head.
Castro said, “We had to put a Plexiglas barrier around the centrifuge to protect the grad students because the ant bodies would go flying at the moment of rupture.”
I guess that gives new meaning to the term “bullet ant.”
What a way to go!
They found that the force applied was from 3400 to 5000 times their bodyweight, well above the 1000 time idea they started with. (Of course lifting and withstanding force are certainly different things).
And did you know that ant extracts have been used for thousands of years in Chinese medicine?
In fact, it's such a potent remedy that it has been called The Herb of Kings.
Anyone that has taken them as a pre-workout supplement has noticed that “feelable” energy they seem to provide.
Find out more details here.
Get Ant Strong & Be Awesome
References:
Nguyen, V., Lilly, B., & Castro, C. (2014). The exoskeletal structure and tensile loading behavior of an ant neck joint. Journal of Biomechanics, 47(2), 497-504. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021929013005459
Darebee Of The Day: Cardio Step Workout
There are those days where you don't want to so intense. A gentle workout that will get your heart rate up without all the impact. Think of it as a recovery type workout or something to do because it just feels right for that particular day. Have fun.
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