CAREER: Fast, Furious and Fantastic Beasts: Integrative principles, biomechanics and physical limits of impulsive motion in ultrafast organisms

在自然界中，某些小型生物可以在纳秒内实现数以百万计的重力的超快加速。这些极端生物利用不同寻常的弹性弹簧和闩锁结构来产生超乎寻常的能量，远远超过人类工程机器人系统。然而，这些不同的系统，从微小的单细胞到毫米大小的蜘蛛，如何产生高功率并在快速运动时产生的巨大力量中幸存下来，目前尚不清楚。为了解决这一关键的知识鸿沟，该项目将结合数学理论、生物实验和物理模型，以更好地了解动物的超快运动。除了推进基本的生物力学，这项工作还可能有助于开发更快、更小、更强大的使用弹性功率放大器的机器人。该项目将支持多个层次的科学培训，包括K-12、本科生、研究生和博士后阶段。研究和培训活动将扩大来自代表性不足的少数群体背景的学生对生命系统物理学的参与。研究人员将开发一门基于现场的无脊椎动物生物力学课程，将来自不同背景的学生带入热带雨林，研究超快生命系统的生物物理。这项工作的研究成果将通过多种渠道传播，包括亚特兰大动物园的现场演示、双语漫画书以及YouTube和Twitter等社交媒体平台。对极端生物弹簧锁存系统的机械原理的理解仍然存在重要空白，这种系统迅速放大电力输入，在小范围内重复提供高功率。该项目将发展弹弓蜘蛛作为研究超快运动的新模式生物。通过在非凡的3-D网络拓扑中存储弹性能量，弹弓蜘蛛可以在不到20毫秒的时间内反复向飞行的昆虫投掷自己和它们的网，加速度超过130克。由液压控制腿驱动的弹性丝制成的网包括一个例外的弹簧/闩锁系统，因此弹弓蜘蛛是研究有关弹性机构的基本问题的极佳模型。它们的网和腿非常适合在实验室和野外环境中进行材料表征和建模。首席调查员将把高速仪器带入秘鲁亚马逊地区，以捕捉这些极端蜘蛛类动物的超快动力学。结合现场测力和建模，这项研究将探索蜘蛛网(弹簧)的机械特性和蜘蛛腿(插销)的流体力学的微调和集成，并将分析如何对给定尺寸的蜘蛛最大化功率放大。这项工作将应用有阻尼谐振子的物理学来揭示弹弓腹板如何耗散能量，并以最小的损害实现重复加载。通过将低成本、便携的科学工具带到热带雨林(丛林无脊椎动物生物力学实验室)，该项目将培训未来的无脊椎动物生物力学科学家，并扩大潜在模式生物的范围。通过开发双语漫画(疯狂有机体的好奇动物园)，这项工作将在与拉美裔人口的科学交流中弥合语言障碍。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

In nature, certain small organisms can achieve ultrafast accelerations of millions of g-forces in nanoseconds. These extreme organisms exploit unusual elastic spring and latch structures to generate extraordinary amounts of power, far outperforming human-engineered robotic systems. However, how these diverse systems, from microscopic single cells to millimeter-sized spiders, generate high power and survive the tremendous forces generated during rapid motion remains unclear. To address this crucial knowledge gap, this project will combine mathematical theory, biological experiments, and physical modeling to better understand ultrafast motion in animals. Beyond advancing fundamental biomechanics, this work could contribute to development of faster, smaller, and stronger robots that use elastic power amplifiers. The project will support science training at many levels, including K-12, undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral stages. Research and training activities will broaden the participation of students from under-represented minority backgrounds in the physics of living systems. The researcher will develop a field-based invertebrate biomechanics course to bring students from many backgrounds into the rainforest to study the biophysics of ultrafast living systems. Research findings of this work will be disseminated through multiple outlets including live demonstrations at the Atlanta Zoo, bilingual comic books, and social media outlets such as YouTube and Twitter.Important gaps remain in the understanding of mechanics extreme biological spring-latch systems, which rapidly amplify power input to repeatably deliver high power at small length scales. This project will develop slingshot spiders as a new model organism for studying ultrafast motion. By storing elastic energy in an extraordinary 3-D web topology, slingshot spiders can repeatedly hurl themselves and their webs at flying insects in less than 20 milliseconds with accelerations exceeding 130g. Webs made of elastic silk actuated by hydraulically controlled legs comprise an exception springs/latch system, thus slingshot spiders are excellent models for fundamental questions concerning elastic mechanisms. Their webs and legs are ideally suited to material characterization and modelling in both lab and field environments. The principal investigator will bring high-speed instrumentation into the Peruvian Amazon to capture the ultrafast dynamics of these extreme arachnids. Combining in-situ force measurements and modeling, this research will probe fine-tuning and integration of mechanical properties of the web (spring) and hydraulic mechanics of the spider’s legs (latch) and will analyze how power amplification is maximized for a spider of a given size. This work will apply the physics of damped harmonic oscillators to reveal how slingshot webs dissipate energy and enable repetitive loading with minimum damage. By bringing low-cost, portable scientific tools to rainforests (Jungle invertebrates Biomechanics Laboratory), the project will train future scientists in invertebrate biomechanics and expand the range of potential model organisms. By developing bilingual comics (Curious Zoo of Crazy Organisms), this work will bridge language barriers in science communication to Hispanic populations.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.