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Posts Tagged ‘drag’

November 25, 2008

For Sperm, Size Isn’t Everything »

Scientists are debunking the belief that sperm with longer tails (and therefore are capable of producing more propulsion activity) are evolutionarily favored. New thinking suggests that because sperm are so small and relatively slow moving, they operate on very different hydrodynamic terms than we do at human size. Researchers say that it’s not only the size of the tail that matters, but also the size of the sperm’s head, which can produce a significant amount of drag that can slow them down. Therefore, just because a sperm has a large tail does not mean it can swim faster.

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Posted by Steven / November 25, 2008 5:45 am / Permalink / Comments (1) / Trackbacks (0)