News tagged with biomechanics
Mechanical properties and microstructure of cranial and beak bones of the woodpecker and the lark
Woodpeckers do not experience head injury despite repeated high-speed impacts during pecking at 6-7 m/s and decelerations up to 1,000 g. This biomechanical analysis of woodpecker cranial structures sheds light ...
Apr 10, 2012 |
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Frogs' amazing leaps due to springy tendons
Some species of frogs and many other animals are able to jump far beyond what appear to be their capabilities. The trained contestants in the frog-jumping competition in Calaveras County, Calif., come to mind, ...
Nov 16, 2011 |
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Microstructure-induced biomechanical responses of dragonfly wing veins
Wang's research team discovered the sandwich microstructure of dragonfly wing veins1 and recently revealed the organic junction between these longitudinal veins and membranes of the dragonfly wing2. Based on observed mic ...
Jun 03, 2011 |
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Ancient 'terror bird' used powerful beak to jab like an agile boxer (w/ Video)
The ancient "terror bird" Andalgalornis couldn't fly, but it used its unusually large, rigid skull -- coupled with a hawk-like hooked beak -- for a fighting strategy reminiscent of boxer Muhammad Ali. The ag ...
Aug 18, 2010 |
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Bioengineer is on the trail of cellular mysteries
(PhysOrg.com) -- Working at the intersection of engineering and biology, faculty member Mohammad Mofrad is seeking to answer fundamental questions about the the biomechanics of human cells. His work may one ...
May 12, 2010 |
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Football penalties: science is on the spot
Few moments in football are as extraordinary as the penalty, the moment when a dream can crumble or glory is made - and a player is either cursed as a choker or enters the pantheon of legends.
May 10, 2010 |
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How people work... and the mystery of your fingerprints
Why do we chew our food? Research has shown that it is not, as has long been presumed, to make chunks of food small enough to swallow without choking. Biomechanics, who have modelled the cohesive strength ...
Jan 06, 2010 |
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Argonne scientists use bacteria to power simple machines (w/ Video)
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory and Northwestern University, Evanston, have discovered that common bacteria can turn microgears when suspended in ...
Dec 16, 2009 |
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Men Are More Accurate than Women When Hitting a Target with Force in the Dark
(PhysOrg.com) -- Could it be that men have evolved to be more accurate at hitting a target with a weapon in the dark than women? That’s the surprising question left after a recent small study of human biomechanics conducted ...
Jun 30, 2009 |
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Cooperative forces boost collective mobility of cells
An article by Dr. Xavier Trepat, senior researcher of the Cellular and respiratory biomechanics group at the University of Barcelona, Spain, contributes for the first time an experimental answer to the question ...
May 06, 2009 |
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Biomechanics
Biomechanics (from Ancient Greek: βίος "life" and μηχανική "mechanics") is the application of mechanical principles to biological systems, such as humans, animals, plants, organs, and cells. Perhaps one of the best definitions was provided by Herbert Hatze in 1974: "Biomechanics is the study of the structure and function of biological systems by means of the methods of mechanics". The word biomechanics developed during the early 1970s, describing the application of engineering mechanics to biological and medical systems. In Modern Greek, the corresponding term is εμβιομηχανική.
Biomechanics is closely related to engineering, because it often uses traditional engineering sciences to analyse biological systems. Some simple applications of Newtonian mechanics and/or materials sciences can supply correct approximations to the mechanics of many biological systems. Applied mechanics, most notably mechanical engineering disciplines such as continuum mechanics, mechanism analysis, structural analysis, kinematics and dynamics play prominent roles in the study of biomechanics.
Usually biological system are more complex than man-built systems. Numerical methods are hence applied in almost every biomechanical study. Research is done in a iterative process of hypothesis and verification, including several steps of modeling, computer simulation and experimental measurements.
For more information about Biomechanics, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
