External power amplification drives prey capture in a spider web [Physiology]

Power amplification allows animals to produce movements that exceed the physiological limits of muscle power and speed, such as the mantis shrimp’s ultrafast predatory strike and the flea’s jump. However, all known examples of nonhuman, muscle-driven power amplification involve anatomical structures that store energy from a single cycle of muscular...

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - June 10, 2019 Category: Science Authors: S. I. Han, H. C. Astley, D. D. Maksuta, T. A. Blackledge Tags: Biological Sciences Source Type: research