Mechanism Used by Penguins to Avoid Freezing Discovered

Washington, June 3. -A team of scientists discovered the mechanism used by emperor penguins to avoid freezing to death at very low temperatures, the journal PLoS One released.

These animals form a compact group and every 30 or 60 seconds those on the outside start to move seamlessly in a coordinated fashion to penetrate inside the group, creating a kind of wave in the colony.

Researchers at the University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany, who conducted the study, observed the behavior of penguins with cameras that captured images of the colony every 1.3 seconds for several hours.

Emperor penguins breed during the Antarctic winter and males come together to keep their body heat, and incubate their eggs in temperatures that can be below 45 degrees below zero.

According to scientists, the coordinated movement of the emperor penguins is so smooth and subtle that it can hardly be seen with the naked eye. (Prensa Latina)