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Author Topic:   Found: The First Mechanical Gear in a Living Creature
New Cat's Eye
Inactive Member


Message 1 of 24 (706503)
09-12-2013 5:54 PM


Link to the Popular Mechanics article
quote:
With two diminutive legs locked into a leap-ready position, the tiny jumper bends its body taut like an archer drawing a bow. At the top of its legs, a minuscule pair of gears engagetheir strange, shark-fin teeth interlocking cleanly like a zipper. And then, faster than you can blink, think, or see with the naked eye, the entire thing is gone. In 2 milliseconds it has bulleted skyward, accelerating at nearly 400 g'sa rate more than 20 times what a human body can withstand. At top speed the jumper breaks 8 mphquite a feat considering its body is less than one-tenth of an inch long.
How awesome is this!?

  
Tangle
Member
Posts: 9489
From: UK
Joined: 10-07-2011
Member Rating: 4.9


Message 2 of 24 (706504)
09-12-2013 6:03 PM


It's also about 10% of a wheel. Odd it never caught on.
What next, a tripod?
Of course, it's more evidence of design......

Life, don't talk to me about life - Marvin the Paranoid Android

  
Jon
Inactive Member


Message 3 of 24 (706505)
09-12-2013 7:08 PM


Of course the real question is how to get something like this installed on my own legs.
Does the Designer know how long before He figures out how to port this technology into his more appreciative creations?
I have a strong feeling that that little piss bug is taking his gears for granted.

Love your enemies!

Replies to this message:
 Message 4 by jar, posted 09-12-2013 7:15 PM Jon has not replied

  
jar
Member (Idle past 394 days)
Posts: 34026
From: Texas!!
Joined: 04-20-2004


Message 4 of 24 (706506)
09-12-2013 7:15 PM
Reply to: Message 3 by Jon
09-12-2013 7:08 PM


The designer is pretty piss poor
Hell, I'd settle for the designer just fixing the flaws in the original design like some padding on the shins and over the funny bone. I'm not even asking for major changes and improvements just fix the manufacturing defects.

Anyone so limited that they can only spell a word one way is severely handicapped!

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Replies to this message:
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New Cat's Eye
Inactive Member


Message 5 of 24 (706510)
09-12-2013 11:52 PM
Reply to: Message 4 by jar
09-12-2013 7:15 PM


Re: The designer is pretty piss poor
I remember seeing Neil deGrasse Tyson talking about the familiar old "why do we breath through the same tube we eat through?" question (the problem being it leads to choking), and he had a great point: 'its not like its asking too much, dolphins already have it'
Yup, indeed.

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Jon
Inactive Member


Message 6 of 24 (706512)
09-13-2013 12:25 AM
Reply to: Message 5 by New Cat's Eye
09-12-2013 11:52 PM


Re: The designer is pretty piss poor
I remember seeing Neil deGrasse Tyson talking about the familiar old "why do we breath through the same tube we eat through?" question (the problem being it leads to choking),
Well, it does make speech a whole lot easier.
and he had a great point: 'its not like its asking too much, dolphins already have it'
Not only dolphins. Many other animals have separate breathing and eating tubes.
They also can't talk.

Love your enemies!

This message is a reply to:
 Message 5 by New Cat's Eye, posted 09-12-2013 11:52 PM New Cat's Eye has replied

Replies to this message:
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 Message 9 by New Cat's Eye, posted 09-13-2013 9:46 AM Jon has replied

  
NoNukes
Inactive Member


(1)
Message 7 of 24 (706517)
09-13-2013 8:27 AM
Reply to: Message 6 by Jon
09-13-2013 12:25 AM


Re: The designer is pretty piss poor
Not only dolphins. Many other animals have separate breathing and eating tubes.
They also can't talk.
Neither can pigs.
Nothing talks except humans. That includes all of the animals that have unified breathing/speaking holes.
Edited by NoNukes, : No reason given.

Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also in prison. Thoreau: Civil Disobedience (1846)
I believe that a scientist looking at nonscientific problems is just as dumb as the next guy.
Richard P. Feynman
If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning. Frederick Douglass

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 Message 6 by Jon, posted 09-13-2013 12:25 AM Jon has not replied

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 Message 10 by New Cat's Eye, posted 09-13-2013 9:50 AM NoNukes has replied

  
frako
Member (Idle past 305 days)
Posts: 2932
From: slovenija
Joined: 09-04-2010


Message 8 of 24 (706518)
09-13-2013 8:34 AM
Reply to: Message 7 by NoNukes
09-13-2013 8:27 AM


Re: The designer is pretty piss poor
Neither can pigs.
Nothing talks except humans. That includes all of the animals that have unified breathing/speaking holes.
And if they cant use their voice they can also sign

Christianity, One woman's lie about an affair that got seriously out of hand
Click if you dare!

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New Cat's Eye
Inactive Member


Message 9 of 24 (706520)
09-13-2013 9:46 AM
Reply to: Message 6 by Jon
09-13-2013 12:25 AM


Re: The designer is pretty piss poor
Well, it does make speech a whole lot easier.
Easier? How would you know?
I understand the workings of the anatomy, but what are you comparing against to determine which has more ease?
Not only dolphins. Many other animals have separate breathing and eating tubes.
Thanks for being vague. Are you just talking about other Cetacea? 'Cause he was just speaking to an audience and making some light humor, we wouldn't expect him to be very thorough.
They also can't talk.
But dolphins can. And they're really smart. So its not that big of a stretch, which was his point.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 6 by Jon, posted 09-13-2013 12:25 AM Jon has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 11 by Jon, posted 09-13-2013 10:01 AM New Cat's Eye has replied

  
New Cat's Eye
Inactive Member


Message 10 of 24 (706521)
09-13-2013 9:50 AM
Reply to: Message 7 by NoNukes
09-13-2013 8:27 AM


Re: The designer is pretty piss poor
Nothing talks except humans.
Yes and no. Talking is pretty talking much defined as a human thing.
But I think we could consider other animal's somatic auditory communications as "talking" in the sense that they're communicating information to one another with noises from their mouths.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 7 by NoNukes, posted 09-13-2013 8:27 AM NoNukes has replied

Replies to this message:
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Jon
Inactive Member


Message 11 of 24 (706522)
09-13-2013 10:01 AM
Reply to: Message 9 by New Cat's Eye
09-13-2013 9:46 AM


Re: The designer is pretty piss poor
I understand the workings of the anatomy, but what are you comparing against to determine which has more ease?
Artificial mechanisms have been constructed to compare the efficiency and utility of various setups for speech systems. The findings are always the same: The 90 positioning of the pharynx against the oral cavity allows for the most robust (=complex) system of sound production. This positioning is only achieved through, among other things, lowering of the breathing tube below the entrance to the combined tube (with the side effect that food must always pass by the breathing tube).
'Cause he was just speaking to an audience and making some light humor, we wouldn't expect him to be very thorough.
Well, I was just speaking to some strangers on a forum replying to some light humor. So there's no need to expect me to be very specific.
They also can't talk.
But dolphins can. And they're really smart. So its not that big of a stretch, which was his point.
We've had other threads on this, but I can say here that no evidence of a communication system with complexities even slightly like those of human language has ever been found in non-human creatures.
Now I expect about a dozen or so shoddy videos of chimps farting cleverly and playing guitar; but those videos are anecdotal and produced by highly biased 'researchers' (=animal trainers).

Love your enemies!

This message is a reply to:
 Message 9 by New Cat's Eye, posted 09-13-2013 9:46 AM New Cat's Eye has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 12 by New Cat's Eye, posted 09-13-2013 10:11 AM Jon has replied

  
New Cat's Eye
Inactive Member


Message 12 of 24 (706524)
09-13-2013 10:11 AM
Reply to: Message 11 by Jon
09-13-2013 10:01 AM


Re: The designer is pretty piss poor
Artificial mechanisms have been constructed to compare the efficiency and utility of various setups for speech systems. The findings are always the same: The 90 positioning of the pharynx against the oral cavity allows for the most robust (=complex) system of sound production.
But your nasal passages could just go around all that and connect directly to the lungs. Now you can breath and eat at the same time.
Well, I was just speaking to some strangers on a forum replying to some light humor. So there's no need to expect me to be very specific.
I expect you to intend to be understood.
We've had other threads on this, but I can say here that no evidence of a communication system with complexities even slightly like those of human language has ever been found in non-human creatures.
That's beside the point that its not that big of a stretch for an intelligent designer to give us a breathing tube separate from the eating one.
But let's talk about this mechanical gear instead.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 11 by Jon, posted 09-13-2013 10:01 AM Jon has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 13 by Jon, posted 09-13-2013 11:10 AM New Cat's Eye has replied

  
Jon
Inactive Member


Message 13 of 24 (706529)
09-13-2013 11:10 AM
Reply to: Message 12 by New Cat's Eye
09-13-2013 10:11 AM


Re: The designer is pretty piss poor
But your nasal passages could just go around all that and connect directly to the lungs. Now you can breath and eat at the same time.
Huh?
Where the hell would all the air come from that we use to speak?
I expect you to intend to be understood.
And I was understood. Where's the problem?
That's beside the point that its not that big of a stretch for an intelligent designer to give us a breathing tube separate from the eating one.
But the eating tube and breathing tube have to connect to get the air from the lungs to pass through the oral cavityan essential process in the production of human speech sounds.
But let's talk about this mechanical gear instead.
It's pretty cool. I wish I had one, or even several. But I imagine it would turn to mush in an instant trying to move any of my large and heavy body parts.

Love your enemies!

This message is a reply to:
 Message 12 by New Cat's Eye, posted 09-13-2013 10:11 AM New Cat's Eye has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 14 by New Cat's Eye, posted 09-13-2013 11:22 AM Jon has replied

  
New Cat's Eye
Inactive Member


Message 14 of 24 (706531)
09-13-2013 11:22 AM
Reply to: Message 13 by Jon
09-13-2013 11:10 AM


Re: The designer is pretty piss poor
Where the hell would all the air come from that we use to speak?
The same way it does now. You'd have an additional tube for nose-breathing.
And I was understood. Where's the problem?
You weren't understood. I still don't know what animals you were talking about.
But the eating tube and breathing tube have to connect to get the air from the lungs to pass through the oral cavityan essential process in the production of human speech sounds.
We could have two breathing tubes.
It's pretty cool. I wish I had one, or even several. But I imagine it would turn to mush in an instant trying to move any of my large and heavy body parts.
Especially if you were using it at the speeds this bug does. But you could employ it much slower and be okay. It'd prolly be helpful for lifting a lot of weight.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 13 by Jon, posted 09-13-2013 11:10 AM Jon has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 15 by Jon, posted 09-15-2013 11:22 PM New Cat's Eye has replied

  
Jon
Inactive Member


Message 15 of 24 (706636)
09-15-2013 11:22 PM
Reply to: Message 14 by New Cat's Eye
09-13-2013 11:22 AM


Re: The designer is pretty piss poor
The same way it does now. You'd have an additional tube for nose-breathing.
We eat through the same hole we speak out of. Without changing that, there isn't any way to get the lungs to supply the speaking apparatuses with air unless we cross tubes somewhere.
I still don't know what animals you were talking about.
It was just a general point that it is rather common for creatures to have separate breathing and eating tubes. I think we can rest that there.
Jon writes:
But the eating tube and breathing tube have to connect to get the air from the lungs to pass through the oral cavityan essential process in the production of human speech sounds.
We could have two breathing tubes.
But so long as the eating hole is the same as the speaking hole, at least one tube from the lungs will have to somewhere cross paths with the digestive tract.
You can't get around it. You could maybe make it safer, but even then it would be difficult to do so without seriously altering the utility of human speech.
But you could employ it much slower and be okay. It'd prolly be helpful for lifting a lot of weight.
It seems that to 'wind up' the system would take as much energy as the system would give off (probably more). I think the advantages really come from the gear's ability to store a large amount of energy and release it rapidly in a higher concentration.

Love your enemies!

This message is a reply to:
 Message 14 by New Cat's Eye, posted 09-13-2013 11:22 AM New Cat's Eye has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 16 by caffeine, posted 09-16-2013 5:17 AM Jon has replied
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