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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)
