Page 178 - Engineering in Nature

Engineering in Nature

The penguin
leans to the
right, and when
the potential ki-
netic energy it
gains on stop-
ping turns into
movement
again, then it
The penguin leans to the left.
gait is similar
to a pendu-
lum. It therefore expends energy only
when beginning to walk and when it
stops.

amounts of food should die of starvation.
So how is it, that in the face of such an apparent disadvantage,
penguins can walk for many kilometers and reach the sea?

The answer reveals yet another miracle of creation.
Penguins walk by waddling from right to left, and back again. This
pendulum-like gait allows penguins to save considerable quantities
of energy. Penguins can overcome the disadvantage of exceedingly

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