romicra88
130656
1858
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Humans just haven't discovered where yet.
This is the only known set of working interlocking gears in nature. They belong to the plant hopper bug issus. It uses these gears to synchronize it's legs for jumping, which can make it reach 8mph and 400 Gs. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/this-insect-has-the-only-mechanical-gears-ever-found-in-nature-6480908/
ObliqueRay
And now we wait for the intelligent design nitwits to swarm in...
userbugs
After we found it once, we started finding it in a bunch of other arthropod species, in all sorts of gear varieties.
PlayingWithDynamite
What happens when they slip a tooth? They might need to get their timing tuned
TheFallenTwo
In 10 years time we will discover a an animal with mini guns and rocket engines then?
glaedrelda
LurkerMagnet
Aa
Frillydeath
My dumbass thought those were greyscale smucker's uncrustables pb&j.
KnifeKnut
Also the first locked differential.
theitinerantnaturalist
@TheMajesticHarpyEagle
TheMajesticHarpyEagle
Read an article about these once, fuckin neato.
buttholespartan
I thought it was ravioli
notacobra
First set of gears my arse. Look up flagellum mechanism.
PassNYou
tberry668
And then came the Gear Wars. So, how much do you know about the Gear Wars?
FromTheHeartOfIgnoranceICommentAtThee
Ya ain't kidding: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_nuclear_fission_reactor
FromTheHeartOfIgnoranceICommentAtThee
(not even going to mention naturally occurring fusion reactors ;))
DancingOnTheAshes
Well... the only ones larger than a folded protein anyway.
ChalkBodyOutline
"You know what really grinds my gears?"
StopCallingMeIAmNotYourBrother
Asynchronous jumping legs?
romicra88
Motherfuckin predators
JesusChristBackAgain
*pterodactyls...
whatsinausername7
Technically we are a product of mother nature so everything we make is kinda her invention anyway.
Gustave13
Father Physics has something to say about that
AdrianDunne
Until I see patents I'm calling her out on her BS claims.
aguacatedeldiablo
Nature invented an inventing machine
TheNarcissistic
That fucked me up for a whopping 3 seconds.
Jburli24
And we've achieved so much more than seems naturally possible.. Just wait until we invent inventing machines of our own!
Grabes
Duh, nature made us.
LachrymoseEngineer
TheOfflineEnigma
Strangest thing about this is how it could have evolved. A half formed set of gears would have given the animal no advantage in the wild.
Corona688
A lack of imagination on your part does not a logical flaw make. Lots of insects scrape ridged parts against each together for noise.
irqd
Itwasmyname
You really like that thing don't you.
GingerGigantus
ANewBadlyPhotoshoppedPhotoofMichaelCeraEveryday
AmigoToyota
Lazarus rises once more...
v
usersubbordercontrol
TiberiusAudley
Do you have a downvote version of this
usersubbordercontrol
SerMorgenstern
It's only on the juvenile form though, right?
Corona688
Training wheels, basically.
romicra88
If I understood it right, it keeps them, but after it quits molting it ends up wearing them off.
Bootsy81
Yeah, but no one ever talks about all the gears nature keeps trying to make that *don't* work.
romicra88
That would be interesting to see failed evolutions that are still present
thisismyanonymoususername
this is why I loved studying biology in college. Other people sat in rooms and read books. I played with animals in fields/mountains/streams
Sauuuuul
Should have carried on studying it dude
pipicacaboudin
5 billions years against 10 000, we're a bit faster than "nature" motherfucker
Vorinclex182
He just said first not fastest. Motherfucker
GuardsmanMiku
nature had a hella head start
romicra88
Nature still usually does it first though. And we have a knowledge driven mind versus natural selection
GodelEscherBach
We put a retroreflector on the moon so we can shine lasers at it and have them bounce back. Nature can suck my dick.
GuardsmanMiku
DanTheStanMan
I think this might be a 'tortise and the hare' situation.
GuardsmanMiku
except the hare waits at the start line until the tortoise is 3cm from the finish before the hare bolts past it at Mach 72
TheMortiestMortyfromC137
400 fucking gs... the power of small exoskeletons is ducking crazy
Axis3
When you spot the Canadian in the crowd.
Stuebydoo
You don't make love to Max Power, you strap yourself in and FEEL THE G's!
DougDeNasty
Human organs start to tear loose as low as 10Gs
surrealizations
Less gooey insides too
iCommunicateInGifs
GTR16
At what point did autocorrect decide that ducking was the word people were trying to type?
malakim
Helps if you're already liquid inside.
HighrockTendales
I found the 8mph but was a poor partner to that fact.
FirstYouPillageThenYouBurn
Even if this bug is a full inch long that speed would be like a 6 foot tall animal going over 500 mph in speed relative to size.
FoggyNights
It's more an issue of mass versus acceleration but the point is valid.
PartTimeViking
having less mass also makes it less of a challenge
Azerai
Less resources too
TerriblePokemon
Fewer
Fizzledrizzle69
Minimal
LazyPea
Fewer if it's the number of resources, less if it's a continuous amount of the resource, so less can still be used.
CrystalCry
Fuhrer*
roguelampshades
NothingButReactionGifs
Crazy duck you say?
whywouldyouaskmethat
I'm so interested in where this is from
TheWholiganOfGallifrey
Probably an old DuckTales advert.
whywouldyouaskmethat
Nope. NO SIR
Twerklt
Here you go https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp-V8kmBM3A
TheWholiganOfGallifrey
What the duck have I just witnessed?
whywouldyouaskmethat
I could not be more not disappointed. THANK YOU
xtraa
Natur has an advance of some million years and does not have to think about how. Science says it’s not conscious so it has to be pure magic.
oscarmatic
I feel like there are more options than "conscious" or "magic".
FatherTheta
And thus, young readers, is the sentiment of organized religion the world over. Alms? Alms for the poor?
GH05TY
If ten thousand bugs hatch each day, and one in a hundred gets a mutation, and one in a hundred mutations are slightly helpful, (1)
GH05TY
then you get one newly-mutated bug every day. If that mutation gives a 1% advantage to survival, that's 3 helpful mutations per year (2)
HipHopRoboCop
Fuck, so that's how natural selection works. I'm makes a whole heck of a lot more sense now
GH05TY
which reeeeally adds up over millions of years, mutations on top of mutations until it becomes something significantly different. (3)
xtraa
I mean yes I know the theory but it does not feel right. How ‚slightly useful‘ does a mutation have to be to stop a bug from dying or ...
TrustMeImKindOfADoctor
But gears? It's hard to see how the in-between steps would have been useful, no? So interesting
GH05TY
I would guess any friction is more useful than no friction. So mutations that made them bumpier would let them jump higher