FRANCE: A warming world may have more of an impact on spiders than experts ever expected. That’s at least according to a recent study that closely investigated how temperature fluctuations affected the movements of spiders and robots alike.
It may not seem like robots and spiders have a lot in common – that is, unless a robot was to be fashioned in the form of one. However, regardless of the shape, size, or inspiration for them, most robotics relies on hydraulic pumps for movement. Those pumps are not all that different from how spiders move their own limbs, where, in the place of muscles, they have joints that inflate with haemolymph to straighten.
Scientists have long known that fluid viscosity can increase dramatically as temperature falls, which can in-turn, affect the effectiveness of hydraulics. This caused researcher Anna Ahn from Harvey Mudd College to wonder, “Would the same prove true for spiders?”
“I’ve always wanted to study spiders because they use hydraulics” Ahn admitted in a recent release. “This is a fascinating question.”
