The New York Times recently published the article “The Skin-Deep Physics of Sidewinder Snakes” featuring our newest faculty member, Dr. Jennifer Rieser. The article’s focus is on how snake skin helped Dr. Rieser and other members of the team to understand how snakes move in different environments, such as on sand. They discovered that the skin has microscopic structure, which creates uneven friction for movement of the body in different directions relative to the surface. And this directional friction, in its turn, helps the snakes move forward on sandy surfaces.
We hope you enjoy the article and look forward to more exciting research from Dr. Rieser!
Research Article:
https://www.pnas.org/content/118/6/e2018264118
Emory Article:
https://news.emory.edu/features/2021/02/esc-physics-of-snakeskin/index.html
The New York Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/01/science/sidewinders-snakes-physics.html