Chameleon's tongue gives up secrets

Scientists have built a mathematical model to explain the secrets of the chameleon's extraordinary tongue.

It took more than 20 equations to capture mathematically how the reptile's tongue unravels at very high speed to snare insects.
The model explains the mechanics of the animal's tongue and the inherent energy build-up and rapid release.
British researchers say the insights will be useful in biomimetics - copying from nature in engineering and design.
"If you are looking at the equations they might look complex but at the heart of all of this is Newton's Second Law - the sort of thing that kids are learning in A-Levels, which is simply that you're balancing forces with accelerations," explained Derek Moulton, associate professor of mathematical biology at Oxford University.
He added: "In mathematical terms, what we've done is we've used the theory of read more