蝉的尿也是笔直的水柱,不过蝉尿的喷射速度比人类快多了……
本文转自:把科学带回家(ID:steamforkids)

撰文 | Cloud
审校 | 阿娴通常来说,我们人类和其他体重超过3千克的动物在排尿的时候,都会喷射出一条尿柱,而一些

蝉撒尿,图片来源:Wilson Walker不仅如此,最新的研究还发现,

蝉排尿的行为研究起来比较困难,因为它们通常带在树上高处,而且即使人们找到了它们,也很容易惊动它们,导致其飞走。图片来源:Jelbuilder在秘鲁进行野外实地考察时,美国佐治亚理工学院的研究团队偶遇一棵被当地人称作“

大多数以木质部汁液为食的昆虫尿的是小水珠。图片来源:Georgia Institute of Technology在此之前,该研究团队发现叶蝉就会尿出一颗小水珠,然后猛地弹射出去。这是因为,

投射小尿珠,图片来源:Saad Bhamla, TEDMonterey相比之下,

排尿的方向也很灵活。图片来源:Georgia Institute of Technology“

“蝉雨”,图片来源:Jelbuilder对于包括人类在内的较大物种而言,重力和惯性对于身体排出尿液的速度至关重要,并且可以轻松抵消表面张力。不过研究发现,蝉在这方面堪称王者,

蝴蝶排尿,图片来源:Thomas Marent, David Weiller
和哺乳动物相比,蝉排尿的强度和速度是大象和人类的2~3倍。而为人们所熟知的实验室小白鼠体重大约是蝉的100倍,但排尿时却只能滴滴答答。

老鼠的尿液,图片来源:参考资料[10]佐治亚理工学院化学与生化工程学院助理教授萨阿德·巴姆拉(Saad Bhamla)同时参与了这两次昆虫排泄研究,

21秒小便定律,图片来源:参考资料[10]过去科学家更关注的是动物的进食行为,对排泄的了解目前还不是很透彻。虽然该研究团队最初研究昆虫的排泄只是出于好奇,但
“昆虫是探索微观尺度流体处理的完美实验室,”美国弗吉尼亚理工大学的流体动力学家安妮·斯台普斯(Anne Staples)说道。
蝉的种类有3000多种,可分为两类:一年生蝉和周期蝉。一年生蝉每年夏天成熟,遍布全球。而生命周期更长的周期蝉属只有7个物种,其中3种有17年的生命周期,4种是13年的生命周期。佐治亚理工学院研究团队研究的蝉并非周期蝉,而是它们位于亚马逊的亲戚。

图片来源:参考资料[1]今年春夏,数万亿只周期蝉将从美国东南部和中西部的土壤中钻出。有的在地下潜伏了13年,有的则是17年之久。到时候,
参考资料:
[1] Challita, E. J., & Bhamla, M. S. (2024). Unifying fluidic excretion across life from cicadas to elephants. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 121(13), e2317878121. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2317878121
[2] Bhamla, S. (2023, February 28). The fascinating physics of insect pee. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/saad_bhamla_the_fascinating_physics_of_insect_pee/transcript
[3] Katsnelson, A. (2024). Cicadas’ Emergence May Feel a Little Wet From the Power of Their Pee. N.Y. Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/science/cicadas-pee-stream.html
[4] Cicadas’ Unique Urination Unlocks New Understanding of Fluid Dynamics | Research. (2024, April 02). Retrieved from https://research.gatech.edu/feature/cicada-urination
[5] Daniel, A. (2024). Scientists studied how cicadas pee. Their insights could shed light on fluid dynamics. NPR. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2024/03/20/1239529315/cicadas-pee-urination-jets-new-research-microfluidics-3d-printing-experiments
[6] Of Engineering, G. T. C. (2024, March 11). The Unique Urination of Cicadas. Youtube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KBL7HHd1-o
[7] Borenstein, S. (2024). Cicadas are nature's weirdos. They pee stronger than us and an STD can turn them into zombies. Phys.org. Retrieved from https://phys.org/news/2024-04-cicadas-nature-weirdos-pee-stronger.html
[8] Jelbuilder. (2023, March 24). Cicada Pee: The bizarre phenomenon I experienced in the bush. Youtube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1BodTnp9os
[9] Press, S. B. |. A. (2024). Cicadas are nature's weirdos. They pee stronger than us and an STD can turn them into zombies. NBC10 Philadelphia. Retrieved from https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/national-international/cicadas-facts-zombies-sexually-transmitted-disease/3818240
[10] Yang, P. J., Pham, J., Choo, J., & Hu, D. L. (2014). Duration of urination does not change with body size. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 111(33), 11932–11937. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1402289111
[11] Super-fast Insect Urination Powered by the Physics of Superpropulsion | Research. (2024, April 03). Retrieved from https://research.gatech.edu/super-fast-insect-urination-powered-physics-superpropulsion
[12] Tamisiea, J. (2024). Why Cicadas Power Spray Their Pee. Sci. Am. Retrieved from
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-cicadas-power-spray-their-pee原创文章版权归微信公众号
转载请联系:bd@wanwuweb.com
凡本公众号转载、引用的文章 、图片、音频、视频文件等资料的版权归版权所有人所有,因此产生相关后果,由版权所有人、原始发布者和内容提供者承担,如有侵权请联系删除。