When worms stick together and swim on thin water, what happens and why does it matter?
Monday, February 7, 2011 - 16:32
in Biology & Nature
Nematodes, microscopic worms, are making engineers look twice at their ability to exhibit the “Cheerios effect” when they move in a collective motion. These parasites will actually stick together like Cheerios swimming in milk in a cereal bowl after a chance encounter “due to capillary force.” This observation has made engineers speculate about the possible impacts on the study of biolocomotion.