Gray's Paradox Solved! (Speedy Dolphins)
Entry posted by DanDuguay
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In 1936, A British zoologist named James Gray was baffled by the speed of dolphins. These dolphins were able to reach speeds of over 20 miles per hour! He examined the dolphins muscles and demonstrated that they weren't built to reach that kind of acceleration with drag. He chalked that up to their skin and that was the accepted answer..... was.
It turned out that Gray was wrong. Dolphins are amazing creatures and it turns out, Gray didn't give these water dwelling mammals enough credit!!!! A professor from the Rensselaer School of Engineering, Timothy Wei, proved that dolphins are quit brilliant.
Wei used technology original used for aerospace research. They tracked two bottlenose dolphins and video recorded them. The video showed the speed and direction of the water behind the dolphins so they could track the force the dolphins applied. It turned out these dolphins could create 200 pounds of force just from tail flapping! TAIL FLAPPING!!!!!!! THAT'S INCREDIBLE!!!!!! Olympic swimmers only generate 60 to 70 pounds of force :'(
In conclusion, dolphins are freaken awesome. They can generate massive amounts of force with their tails and propel themselves to incredible speeds. So next time you see a dolphin, tell it thanks, thanks for being a dolphin
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