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(music)

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Now that's a jump!

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It would make even
Michael Jordan proud.

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Look at it again.

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See how the abdomen
curls up

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as the mantis leaps?

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That curl
is the crutial move

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for a juvenile mantis

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-- which doesn't have
any wings yet --

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when it launches itself
towards a target.

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That's what Cambridge
University

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researchers found

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when they analyzed
the leap

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using high speed video.

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The curled abdomen
changes

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the center
of the jumpers mass

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and it also generates

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just a little bit
of spin.

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It turns out
that the mantis needs

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to generate some spin
first

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and then correct it
on the fly

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in order to make
an accurate jump.

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That finding could be

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very useful for engineers

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who are now
trying to figure out

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how to make
jumping robots

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not spin out of control.

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Look what happens
to the mantis

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when glue is used
to make the abdomen

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too stiff to curl
properly.

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The mantises
couldn't do it.

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Sometimes they even
crashed head on.

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Of course,
even without the glue

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the mantises
weren't perfect.

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But then, neither was
Michael Jordan.

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(music)