As the largest land mammal on the planet, elephants eat a lot of food. On average, the giants consume more than 440 pounds of vegetation per day, or the equivalent of about two corncobs per minute. And now, scientists have figured out how the beasts are able to eat so much so fast. Elephants make joints with their trunks to press down on and scoop up food. Researchers say the discovery could even help engineers build better robots.
Elephants are massive, so they need a lot of sustenance. To fill their bellies, they graze on fruits, twigs, tree bark and roots for up to 18 hours per day. To house so much fare, elephants must manipulate their trunks in a way that’s efficient and adept at picking up as many pieces of food as possible at once. David Hu, a mechanical engineer and biologist at Georgia Institute of Technology in ...
