
Human sperm steer with second harmonics of the flagellar beat - Ice_cream_suit
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01462-y
======
OtterCoder
That is an incredibly difficult title to parse if you are from a certain
background. I spent about a minute trying to imagine how someone might have
made a human/cow chimera, and what that might have to do with harmonics.

In my defense, I had read the following article about rat/human chimeras
earlier today:

[https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/4867891/scientists-give-
rats-c...](https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/4867891/scientists-give-rats-
consciousness-by-implanting-them-with-tiny-human-brains/)

~~~
evanb
A sentence where you begin parsing one way, find it it impossible to complete,
and have to backtrack substantially (so that the intended meaning changes
drastically) is called a garden path sentence

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_path_sentence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_path_sentence)

My favorite is "The old man the boat" :)

~~~
somberi
"Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana"

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_flies_like_an_arrow;_frui...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_flies_like_an_arrow;_fruit_flies_like_a_banana)

~~~
mirimir
Trying to imagine time flies, here. Generally, I hate flies. I imagine that
time flies bite something. But what?

~~~
adamkruszewski
banana? ;)

~~~
mirimir
Something out of Lovecraft, I think.

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thret
So could someone theoretically produce music that if played very loudly during
coitus would also act as a contraceptive?

~~~
nabla9
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PVal8Fy7CM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PVal8Fy7CM)

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RichardCA
This is an old NOVA episode about intelligent design but it has a nice
explanation of the bacterial flagellum.

It starts at around 1:07:00 in the video.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HZzGXnYL5I](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HZzGXnYL5I)

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macawfish
Who's gonna invent an ultrasonic contraceptive?

~~~
tinix
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/407106](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/407106)

it's been known since at least 1977.

[https://m.timesofindia.com/home/science/Ultrasound-waves-
as-...](https://m.timesofindia.com/home/science/Ultrasound-waves-as-
contraceptive/articleshow/5923438.cms)

there's another company that confirms it works, yet denounces it for sake of
supporting another contraceptive method they have produced that uses
radiation.

[https://www.parsemus.org/projects/ultrasound/](https://www.parsemus.org/projects/ultrasound/)

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bartkappenburg
If you're interested in the scripts (python!) and movies (xyz files for
molecular representation) they used for analysis:
[https://zenodo.org/record/884626#.WgV1XFz81R4](https://zenodo.org/record/884626#.WgV1XFz81R4)

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em3rgent0rdr
Nice that they provide open data:

"Data availability High-speed video recordings, extracted data, and analysis
supporting the findings of this study are available in “zenodo” with the
identifier doi: 10.5281/zenodo.884626."

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emmelaich
We have an early leader for the IgNobel prize.

(even though quite fascinating)

~~~
ucaetano
Not really, there are potential applications: Higher beat frequency components
exist in other flagellated cells; therefore, this steering mechanism might be
widespread and could inspire the design of synthetic microswimmers.

~~~
conistonwater
Not really, IgNobel doesn't mean it has to be useless:

> _The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that first make people laugh, and
> then make them think. The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual,
> honor the imaginative — and spur people 's interest in science, medicine,
> and technology._
> ([https://www.improbable.com/ig/](https://www.improbable.com/ig/))

~~~
c3534l
This is why homeopaths and ghost hunters don't sweep every year. It's not an
award to shame the recipient, it's to highlight unusual or befuddling, but
legitimate, scientific research.

~~~
conistonwater
Indeed. Just for example, the levitating frog experiment is a very clear
example of just that.

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exabrial
I know what all of those words mean, but not in this combination. Props to
whoever wrote the title, I'm clicking/reading.

~~~
firebones
Let's start a band...that title could describe a new musical genre, one with
the hip lyrics set to the flagellar beat.

