PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Traffic jams lend insight into emperor penguin huddle

2013-12-17
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Michael Bishop
michael.bishop@iop.org
44-117-930-1032
Institute of Physics
Traffic jams lend insight into emperor penguin huddle

Emperor penguins maintain the tight huddle that protects them from the harsh conditions of an Antarctic winter with stop-and-go movements like cars in a traffic jam, a new study has shown.

By using a mathematical model that recreated the positions, movements and interactions of individual penguins in a huddle, researchers have revealed that an individual penguin only needs to move 2 cm in any direction for its neighbour to react and also perform a step to stay close to it.

These movements then flow through the entire huddle like a travelling wave and play a vital role in keeping the huddle as dense as possible to protect the penguins from the cold; the wave also helps smaller huddles merge into larger ones.

The results have been published today, 17 December, in the Institute of Physics and German Physical Society's New Journal of Physics and are accompanied by a video abstract. An advanced set of videos can be viewed here - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx-sGUtkV82eZJHWNyJ4uxPCBtb1GlWgw

In a previous study, the same group of researchers studied time-lapse videos and showed that instead of remaining static, penguins in a huddle actually move every 30-60 seconds, causing surrounding penguins to move with them.

Co-author of the study Daniel Zitterbart, from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), said: "Our previous study showed how penguins use travelling waves to allow movement in a densely packed huddle, but we had no explanation as to how these waves propagate and how they are triggered."

To investigate this, the researchers used a mathematical model, which has previously been used to study traffic jams, and compared the results with an analysis of video recordings of a real-life penguin huddle.

Unlike a traffic jam, the researchers found that the waves of movements in a penguin huddle can originate from any single penguin and can propagate in any direction as soon as a sufficient gap, known as a "threshold distance", develops between two penguins.

This threshold distance was estimated to be around 2 cm, which is twice the thickness of a penguin's compressive feather layer, suggesting the penguins touch each other only slightly when standing in a huddle without compressing the feather layer so as to maximize huddle density without compromising their own insulation.

"We were really surprised that a travelling wave can be triggered by any penguin in a huddle, rather than penguins on the outside trying to push in," continued Zitterbart. "We also found it amazing how two waves, if triggered shortly after each other, merged instead of passing one another, making sure the huddle remains compact."

The emperor penguin is the only vertebrate species that breeds during the severe conditions of the Antarctic winter. At this time of year temperatures can get as low as -50°C and winds can reach speeds of up to 200 km/h.

To cope with the harsh conditions, the male penguins form dense huddles, often consisting of thousands of individuals, to maintain their body temperatures. Unlike other species of penguin, the male emperors are solely responsible for incubating their single egg during the winter, covering it in an abdominal pouch above their feet while the female returns to sea to feed.



INFORMATION:

From Tuesday 17 December this paper, along with a video abstract, can be downloaded from http://iopscience.iop.org/1367-2630/15/12/125022/article



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Fracking chemicals disrupt hormone function

2013-12-17
Fracking chemicals disrupt hormone function Endocrine-disrupting activity linked to birth defects, infertility found near drilling sites Chevy Chase, MD—A controversial oil and natural gas drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, uses ...

Vanderbilt study: Ancient chemical bond may aid cancer therapy

2013-12-17
Vanderbilt study: Ancient chemical bond may aid cancer therapy Researchers included 48 middle- and high-school students in five states, from Arkansas to Maine A chemical bond discovered by Vanderbilt University scientists that is essential ...

Embargoed news from Annals of Internal Medicine -- Vitamin supplements a waste of money?

2013-12-17
Embargoed news from Annals of Internal Medicine -- Vitamin supplements a waste of money? Annals of Internal Medicine tip sheet for Dec. 17, 2013 1. Physicians urge, 'stop wasting money on vitamin and mineral supplements' Editorialists responding to three ...

Lion numbers could improve with new sustainable hunting quotas

2013-12-17
Lion numbers could improve with new sustainable hunting quotas Researchers have devised a simple and reliable way to set sustainable quotas for hunting lions, to help lion populations to grow, in a new study. Trophy hunting occurs in 9 of the ...

4 degree rise will end vegetation 'carbon sink'

2013-12-17
4 degree rise will end vegetation 'carbon sink' Latest climate and biosphere modelling suggests that the length of time carbon remains in vegetation during the global carbon cycle - known as 'residence time' - is the key "uncertainty" in predicting how ...

Ear acupuncture can help shed the pounds

2013-12-17
Ear acupuncture can help shed the pounds 5 point stimulation of outer ear may be better than single point at reducing midriff bulge Ear acupuncture can help shed the pounds, indicates a small study published online in Acupuncture in Medicine. Using continuous ...

Poor owner knowledge of cat sex life linked to 850,000 unplanned kittens every year

2013-12-17
Poor owner knowledge of cat sex life linked to 850,000 unplanned kittens every year Misconceptions among owners common; most cat litters born in UK unplanned Widespread ignorance among cat-owners about the sex lives of their pets may be leading to more than ...

Climate change puts 40 percent more people at risk of absolute water scarcity: Study

2013-12-17
Climate change puts 40 percent more people at risk of absolute water scarcity: Study Water scarcity impacts people's lives in many countries already today. Future population growth will increase the demand for freshwater even ...

Recognizing the elephant in the room: Future climate impacts across sectors

2013-12-17
Recognizing the elephant in the room: Future climate impacts across sectors A pioneering collaboration within the international scientific community has provided comprehensive projections of climate change effects, ranging from ...

Cat domestication traced to Chinese farmers 5,300 years ago

2013-12-17
Cat domestication traced to Chinese farmers 5,300 years ago Five-thousand years before it was immortalized in a British nursery rhyme, the cat that caught the rat that ate the malt was doing just fine living alongside farmers in the ancient Chinese ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

ESMO 2025: VT3989 continues to show promising early results in patients with advanced mesothelioma

Study finds COVID-19 mRNA vaccine sparks immune response to fight cancer

ESMO 2025: mRNA-based COVID vaccines generate improved responses to immunotherapy

Drug combo cuts risk of death in advanced prostate cancer by 40%

ADC improves outcomes for patients with advanced triple-negative breast cancer who are ineligible for immune checkpoint inhibitors

Novel treatment combination improves progression-free survival in metastatic, estrogen-receptor-positive HER-2-negative breast cancer

ESMO 2025: Trial results show belzutifan shrinks rare neuroendocrine tumors and improves symptoms in patients

ESMO 2025: Dual targeted therapy shows promise in previously treated advanced kidney cancer patients

New generation of Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs) shows unprecedented promise in early-stage disease

Sylvester Cancer Tip Sheet for October 2025

Three science and technology leaders elected to Hertz Foundation Board of Directors

Jump Trading CSO Kevin Bowers elected to Hertz Foundation Board of Directors

Former Inscripta CEO Sri Kosaraju elected to Hertz Foundation Board of Directors

Citadel’s Jordan Chetty elected to Hertz Foundation Board of Directors

McGill research flags Montreal snow dump, inactive landfills as major methane polluters

A lightweight and rapid bidirectional search algorithm

Eighty-five years of big tree history available in one place for the first time

MIT invents human brain model with six major cell types to enable personalized disease research, drug discovery

Health and economic air quality co-benefits of stringent climate policies

How immune cells deliver their deadly cargo

How the brain becomes a better listener: How focus enhances sound processing

Processed fats found in margarines unlikely to affect heart health

Scientists discover how leukemia cells evade treatment

Sandra Shi MD, MPH, named 2025 STAT Wunderkind

Treating liver disease with microscopic nanoparticles

Chemicals might be hitching a ride on nanoplastics to enter your skin

Pregnant patients with preexisting high cholesterol may have elevated CV risk

UC stroke experts discuss current and future use of AI tools in research and treatment

The Southern Ocean’s low-salinity water locked away CO2 for decades, but...

OHSU researchers develop functional eggs from human skin cells

[Press-News.org] Traffic jams lend insight into emperor penguin huddle