Pocket Science – meat-eating plants with ultrafast traps

[embed width="610"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb_SLZFsMyQ[/embed] Most plants live life in the slow lane, but some can move with incredible speed. The bladderworts, a group of flesh-eating water plants found all over the world, have underwater traps that can catch and kill microscopic animals. The traps (or bladders) close too quickly for the naked eye to follow. But Olivier Vincent from the University of Grenoble only managed to work out how they work by filming them with high-speed cameras. The bladderwort sets its traps by pumping out the water inside them. The water pressure falls inside the traps and their elastic walls buckle inwards, storing energy like a coiled spring. A sealed door prevents any water from entering, and a long hair acts as a trigger. If an animal brushes against the hair, it breaks the seal on the door and allows water to rush inside. The springy walls bounce outwards, sucking in the ...