Don't let the adorable mini-orchestra-conductor look fool you: penguins aren't that nice. When emperor penguins huddle together during Antarctic storms, they act like they're all in it together. But a new mathematical model shows just how the clusters of birds keep warm, accounting for everything from their geometry to the speed of the wind. Concern for one's fellow bird, it turns out, isn't a factor.
Regardless of your motivations, huddling together in a group is a great way to wait out a frigid storm. Instead of burning up their own energy reserves trying to warm their bodies, emperor penguins can rely on the warmth of a bunch of big feathery animals pressed together. There may be ten or hundreds of bodies in the huddle. Inside, the temperature is between 20 and 37.5 degrees Celsius (a cozy 68 to 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit). In the chilliest storms, penguins squeeze as tight as ...
