this post was submitted on 17 May 2024
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Science Memes

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468
Thwack (mander.xyz)
submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 60 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Wow, nature is so unique and interesting! By the way, please never show me this picture again!

[–] ramirezmike 12 points 6 months ago (1 children)

do you think they can taste their brain?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 months ago

Well, definitely not considering the entire skull sitting in the way.

[–] [email protected] 52 points 6 months ago (2 children)

I've seen that image many times before, but not really stopped to think about the details.

  • 'Tongue bones' disturbs me. Doubly so when they seem to be shown curving around the inside of the skull. Are they actually bones, or more akin to tendons?

  • A woodpeckers tongue appears to be bifurcated at the back. I suppose that makes sense if it curves upwards rather than down the throat, but still; nature is weird.

  • 1000G is a lot of force. Even if the brain is padded by the tongue (it's like they're almost licking their own brains), the bulk of the brain is still getting bounced around. I wonder if we can learn anything about mitigating TBIs from them?

[–] [email protected] 15 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Just making sure you understood 'g' here is grams (so 1 kg or 9.8 N) and not 1000 G as in the force of gravity (which would be 9800 N / kg).

**Edit: I am wrong, it is quoted at around 1000 times the force of gravity. That is insane.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

If you check other sources as well, it seems to, in fact, be 1000 times gravity. For example check The Audubon Society where it's quoted as '1500 g-force' units, compared to about 5 on a rollercoaster, this paper which seems to show it as even greater in figure 2 or The Zooilogical Society of London which cites 10000 m/s/s or around 1000 g.

Interestingly, as woodpecker brains apparently weight about 2.5 grams, the difference between 9.8N of force and 1000 g=0.0025*9.81*1000=24.525N isn't all that great. From reading around it seems their skulls and tongues don't even absorb much impact. as it'd make their digging less efficient, their brains are just light enough and structured so they don't get damaged.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

the difference between 9.8N of force and 1000 g=0.0025*9.81*1000=24.525N isn't all that great

You need to \*escape those\* asterisks or else they'll just make italics.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago

Doh. Thanks for the heads up. Fixed.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

Never before have I considered the idea of "licking their own brains" and I thank you for bringing that thought into my life.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 6 months ago (2 children)

For the Americans, 1000g is about four sausages

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

How many snausages is that?

[–] runeko 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Multiply by 7 for dog sausages.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

Divide by 3.5 for snozberries

[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago (1 children)

For central europeans, it's about 10 pieces of schocko, 2 large pieces of cheese or 2 pint of beer.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Central Europe and pint don't mix well.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

Too much english use and was never on a Bierfest.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Only 1000g of force? surely it must be more

[–] [email protected] 18 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

Might be 1000G but that seems excessive

[–] [email protected] 24 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

I looked it up, it's actually in excess of 1,000G(-forces), which is kinda fucking insane.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I suppose the head is probably quite light and 1000g is actually a lot. G's as a unit would be more helpful here

[–] [email protected] 11 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Well G's only make sense grams are not a unit of force

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I have often seen kg-force to mean the weight component only, assuming gravity is 9.8m/s^2.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I have only ever seen mass-force being ised by americans.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago

I've also seen it used in usability design, where it is helpful to provide users relatable information (e.g apply equivalent force to the weight of a 1kg bag)

[–] [email protected] 14 points 6 months ago

Evolution, you crazy.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago

I want to unlearn this.