{"46301":{"#nid":"46301","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Study Reveals How Snakes Slither on Flat Terrain","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESnakes use both friction generated by their scales and redistribution of their weight to slither along flat surfaces, researchers at New York University (NYU) and the Georgia Institute of Technology have found. Their findings, which appear in the latest issue of the journal \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E, run counter to previous studies that have shown snakes move by pushing laterally against rocks and branches.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We found that snakes\u0027 belly scales are oriented so that snakes resist sliding toward their tails and flanks,\u0022 said the paper\u0027s lead author, David Hu, a former postdoctoral researcher at NYU\u0027s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and now an assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. \u0022These scales give the snakes a preferred direction of motion, which makes snake movement a lot like that of wheels, cross-country skis, or ice skates. In all these examples, sliding forwards takes less work than does sliding sideways.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe study\u0027s other co-authors were Jasmine Nirody and Terri Scott, both undergraduate researchers at NYU, and Michael Shelley, a professor of mathematics and neural science and the Lilian and George Lyttle Professor of Applied Mathematics at Courant.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe study centered on the frictional anisotropy--or resistance to sliding in certain directions--of a snake\u0027s belly scales. While previous investigators had suggested that the frictional anisotropy of these scales might play a role in locomotion over flat surfaces, the details of this process had not been understood. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo explore this matter, the researchers first developed a theoretical model of a snake\u0027s movement. The model determined the speed of a snake\u0027s center of mass as a function of the speed and size of its body waves, taking into account the laws of friction and the scales\u0027 frictional anisotropy. The model suggested that a snake\u0027s motion arises by the interaction of surface friction and its internal body forces.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo confirm movement as predicted by the model, the researchers then measured the sliding resistance of snake scales and monitored the movement of snakes through a series of experiments on flat and inclined surfaces. They employed video and time-lapse photography to gauge their movements.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe results showed a close relationship between what the model predicted and the snakes\u0027 actual movements. The theoretical predictions of the model were generally consistent with the snakes\u0027 actual body speeds on both flat and inclined surfaces.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMedia Relations Contacts: Georgia Tech -- Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E); NYU -- James Devitt (212-998-6808); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:james.devitt@nyu.edu\u0022\u003Ejames.devitt@nyu.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E James Devitt\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Snakes Use Friction and Weight Redistribution for Locomotion"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Snakes use both friction generated by their scales and redistribution of their weight to slither along flat surfaces, researchers at New York University and the Georgia Institute of Technology have found.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Snakes Use Friction and Weight Redistribution to Glide on Flat L"}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2009-06-08 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:14","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2009-06-08T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2009-06-08T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"46302":{"id":"46302","type":"image","title":"Snake research","body":null,"created":"1449174375","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:26:15","changed":"1475894414","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:14","alt":"Snake research","file":{"fid":"101081","name":"tys94239.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tys94239_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tys94239_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":576781,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tys94239_0.jpg?itok=ijVaz7oO"}},"46303":{"id":"46303","type":"image","title":"Snake forces","body":null,"created":"1449174375","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:26:15","changed":"1475894414","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:14","alt":"Snake forces","file":{"fid":"101082","name":"tmt94239.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tmt94239_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tmt94239_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":753844,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tmt94239_0.jpg?itok=ACIgJK1l"}}},"media_ids":["46302","46303"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/hu.shtml","title":"David Hu"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/","title":"George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"380","name":"david"},{"id":"379","name":"friction"},{"id":"375","name":"glide"},{"id":"381","name":"hu"},{"id":"377","name":"locomotion"},{"id":"378","name":"mechanics"},{"id":"376","name":"movement"},{"id":"170847","name":"slither"},{"id":"169001","name":"Snake"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Vogel\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Vogel\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["avogel@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}