The design of new headgear could be influenced by the bone structure of birds.
Recent scientific research on woodpeckers indicates that being a headbanger doesn’t necessarily lead to harm.
When these birds rapidly “drum” on tree trunks, their heads suffer extreme stress levels that would likely cause severe injuries to humans; however, they remain unharmed.
Chinese researchers have now explored how these birds safeguard their brains from impact damage while pecking wood, aiming to discover new strategies to prevent and treat head injuries in humans.
Globally, head trauma stands as one of the leading causes of death. Brain injuries account for about 15 percent of all fatalities and disabilities and are the primary cause of death in young adults.
These brain injuries may result from either a direct impact or a rapid change in head velocity.
Nevertheless, woodpeckers show no adverse effects despite their beaks striking tree trunks at speeds of six to seven metres per second, with deceleration yielding extraordinary forces of up to 1,000G.
A study led by Yubo Fan from Beihang University in Beijing and Ming Zhang from Hong Kong Polytechnic University focused on how the birds manage this. The research concentrated on great spotted woodpeckers, widely found throughout Eurasia, and notable as one of the most common species in Britain. Their findings, recently published in a scientific journal, reveal the presence of complex shock absorbers within the birds’ skulls.
To analyze the bone structure, researchers employed high-speed video cameras and conducted scans of the birds’ heads.
They discovered that the characteristics of the cranial bones and beak—such as the varying “sponginess” of the bone in different skull areas and the differing lengths of the upper and lower beak parts—played a vital role in preventing impact injuries.
In conclusion, the researchers determined that the shock absorption system was not reliant on a single element but rather resulted from the synergistic effect of various morphological traits.
They propose that this amalgamation may prove useful in the development of new protective headgear.
