الوضع الليلي
0
dandelion seeds
11:34:53 2023-05-30 872

Why dandelion seeds are so good at spreading widely

 

You don’t need a dandelion to know which way the wind blows. But it can help.

On any given dandelion, some seeds are destined to go north, while others are fated to fly east, south or west, and every direction in between. In effect, each dandelion seed is programmed to release for a wind coming from other direction and resists winds from other directions, according to research to be presented at the American Physical Society’s Division of Fluid Dynamics in Indianapolis on November 20.

Dandelion seeds are susceptible to different wind directions depending on where they are on the seed head, says Jena Shields, a biophysicist at Cornell University. The feathery seeds on the side facing a breeze will let go most easily; the others hold on tens to hundreds of times tighter — until the wind shifts.

It’s a phenomenon that Shields set out to study after her adviser noticed the way dandelions responded as his toddler played with the flowers.

Shields measured the force it takes to pluck dandelion seeds by supergluing a fine wire to the tufted ends and pulling them from the seed heads at various angles. This seed-by-seed study mimicked what happens when wind, or a child’s breath, pushes them over. Because each seed is most susceptible to winds from distinct directions, it helps prevent seeds from all going the same way, Shields says, and may explain why the plants are so successful at spreading. Once blown off a dandelion, the umbrella-like tuft on a seed carries it on the breeze that pulled it away. 

“But a strong, turbulent wind can still send all the seeds flying in the same direction,” Shields says, so the effect can’t guarantee that a powerful gust or exuberant child won’t blow off all the seeds at once.

 

Reality Of Islam

Weakness of Will

10:58:7   2025-10-14  

Hypocrisy, an Expression of Fear

12:10:51   2025-10-12  

Man Without Responsibilities

10:53:4   2025-10-07  

A Mathematical Approach to the Quran

10:52:33   2024-02-16  

mediation

2:36:46   2023-06-04  

what Allah hates the most

5:1:47   2023-06-01  

allahs fort

11:41:7   2023-05-30  

striving for success

2:35:47   2023-06-04  

Imam Ali Describes the Holy Quran

5:0:38   2023-06-01  

livelihood

11:40:13   2023-05-30  

silence about wisdom

3:36:19   2023-05-29  

MOST VIEWS

Importance of Media

9:3:43   2018-11-05

Illuminations

never answer to your lusts

7:0:55   2022-05-17

be creative

8:25:12   2022-03-09

the 1st ever brothers

6:14:17   2018-06-21

remember who supported you

2:2:13   2022-10-08

bahlool & the khalifa`s food

8:19:41   2018-06-21

the effect of words

5:58:12   2021-12-18

people types

1:34:8   2022-02-01



IMmORTAL Words
LATEST When to seek help for your sick child Interpretation of Sura Maryam - Verses 43-44 Weakness of Will Landmark Study Warns: We May Never See Average Lifespans Hit 100 Webb Telescope Captures the Final Moments of a Doomed Star Cloaked in Dust Glaciers Are Fighting Against Climate Change – But They Are Losing the Battle What is Motion Sickness? Interpretation of Sura Maryam - Verse 42 Hypocrisy, an Expression of Fear The 3 Bathroom Items You Should Never Share Researchers Have Discovered a Way to Simulate the Universe – on a laptop Supercomputer Recreates a Wildfire That Created Its Own Thunderstorm