Scientists have discovered that sperm can break one of the main laws of physics
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Scientists have discovered that human sperm can move through viscous liquids with the help of their “tails”, defying Newton’s third law.
The corresponding study was published in the journal PRX Life, reports Science Alert.
Newton’s third law can be formulated as follows: “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” It means a special symmetry in nature, when opposite forces act against each other.
However, nature is chaotic, and not all physical systems obey this symmetry.
Read also: In the Netherlands, the court ordered a man who has more than 550 children to stop donating sperm
| Read also: grechka333/Depositphotos |
Scientists studied the mechanical interactions of spermatozoa and single-celled algae of the genus Chlamydomonas and found that the former move in a liquid in such a way that they violate one of the main laws of physics – “There is always an equal and opposite reaction to an action.”
They have very elastic flagella and bend their bodies when they move in such a way that they do not cause any reaction from the environment.
When Newton conceived his famous laws of motion in 1686, he sought to explain the relationship between a physical object and the forces acting on it in terms of a few clear principles.
However, these principles do not always apply to microscopic cells that find themselves in sticky liquids.
Kenta Ishimoto, a mathematical scientist at Kyoto University, and his colleagues studied sperm and other microscopic “swimmers” to find out how they slip through substances that, in theory, should resist their movement.
The scientists analyzed experimental data on human sperm, and also modeled the movement of the green alga Chlamydomonas.
After all, both algae and spermatozoa use tail-like appendages called flagella for movement.
Viscous fluids usually dissipate the energy of the flagella, preventing the sperm or unicellular algae from moving at all.
But somehow the elastic flagella can move these cells without causing a reaction from the environment.
The researchers concluded that the tails of the sperm and the flagella of the algae have a “strange elasticity” that allows them to move without losing much energy in the surrounding fluid.
And Kenta Ishimodo added that not only spermatozoa and algae have flagella, so scientists will probably be able to find other violators of one of the main laws of physics.
It will be recalled that scientists previously announced that they had created an embryo model without the use of eggs and sperm.
Also, Spanish researchers have created a prototype of an artificial uterus to save premature babies.
Read also: Children after death and delayed parenthood: what you should know about cryopreservation during war
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