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The Learning Kingdom's Cool Fact of the Day for June 4, 1999
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What's the most nimble-footed animal?
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If you have ever tried to catch a cockroach, you know the little
devils are fast and sure-footed. A team of biologists recently
discovered that cockroaches can change course as many as 25 times in
one second, making them the most nimble animals known.
Cockroaches can run as fast as one meter (over three feet) per second.
The researchers were curious how these darkness-loving insects managed
to avoid running into obstacles, so they built a special enclosure and
filmed them at 250 frames per second.
They discovered that the roaches kept the tips of their antennae in
contact with barriers, and were able to twist and turn very rapidly to
follow the walls. Even when the insects were blindfolded with dabs of
wax, they still kept a sure course around obstacles.
Most people want to get rid of them:
http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/~insect/urban/roaches/german.htm
Some people like them:
http://slt.pobox.com/revenge/roach.html
Scientists study them:
http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/kunkel/cockroach.html
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