PICS
VIDEOS
DISCUSSION
MOVIES
VIDEO GAMES
MUSIC
INTERNETS
TV
TECH
SCIENCE
JAPANWTF
SFW SEXY
Penguins fly through the water like little rocket torpedos
When penguins are being chased by something big and hungry, their go-to escape maneuver is to make for the surface and launch themselves up and out of the water and on to land (or ice). In some cases that means flying two or three meters up into the air. This is an impressive trick, and the BBC got a lot of cool footage of it as part of The Blue Planet series.
You’ll notice that when the penguins launch themselves, they’re leaving a thick trail of bubbles. But this air isn’t coming from their beaks, it’s coming from their feathers. So when a penguin needs to turn on the extra speed, it squeezes air out of its coat of feathers, creating a blanket of air around its body, reducing water drag by a lot.
12 notes
-
seansmith reblogged this from iheartchaos
-
freakthink likes this
-
indoorkitesofhotshame likes this
-
sweatergeek likes this
-
iwasslicingupanavocado likes this
-
renevannes likes this
-
claudesdeadbaby reblogged this from herpicusderpicus
-
herpicusderpicus reblogged this from iheartchaos
-
notmeaningless likes this
-
overusedunderloved reblogged this from iheartchaos
-
iheartchaos posted this
