Secret To Slithering Is In The Scales Answered

Secret To Slithering Is In The Scales

Talk of the Nation, June 12, 2009 -- How do snakes slither on smooth surfaces? Mechanical engineer David Hu, of Georgia Tech, filmed snakes slithering up inclines, outfitted them in jackets and photographed them through jello to better understand snake locomotion. The researchers published the study in the early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week.

NPR's video that accompanies the article has some amazingly fun shots of snakes slithering in place on surfaces too smooth for them get any traction.