![]() The team also created 3D printouts of the structures to vary diameter and height of features. Orndorf and Garner then prepared the paw pad samples from the bears and imaged them using a scanning electron microscope. "I reached out to museums, taxidermists and many others to collect and view actual samples and replicas of bear paw pads." "The quietness of the lab during COVID gave me the opportunity to connect with a variety of scientists and environmentalists across the country," said Orndorf. The previous studies did not include other species of bear so Garner helped identify two species closely related to the polar bear (the brown bear and American black bear) and one distantly related (the sun bear) to include in the study. Reviewing older literature, the team discovered that previous work studied the microstructures (papillae, the little bumps on the pad of the foot) of polar bear paws and asserted that the papillae were adaptations for improved traction on snow. The idea was to look at the paw pads of polar bears. Orndorf and Dhinojwala are polymer scientists who integrate biology into their research, while Garner is an animal biologist who integrates materials science into his research. The project was very interdisciplinary, combining approaches and techniques from both biological and materials research. The example that came to his mind was polar bears - and the research began from there." ![]() "Nate had an interest in how nature has adapted to this solution for snow. "We had an ongoing project for many years focused on ice we were looking at the friction of materials and we were interested in this topic because we are in Akron and our national partners need to develop tires with a strong grip on the road in ice and snow conditions," said Dhinojwala. The project began during the height of the pandemic when things were on lockdown. graduate who is now an assistant professor of biology at Syracuse University. graduate who is now employed as a senior material scientist at Bridgestone Americas, and Austin Garner, a 2021 Ph.D. Morton Professor of Polymer Science in the School of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering, Nathaniel Orndorf, a 2022 Ph.D. The project team included Ali Dhinojwala, the H.A. Even though polar bears have smaller paw pads compared to the other species (likely because of greater fur coverage for heat conservation), the taller papillae of polar bears compensate for their smaller paw pads, giving them a 30-50% increase in frictional shear stress. And, that the taller papillae of polar bears help to increase traction on snow relative to shorter ones. What the team discovered was that all bears (except sun bears) have papillae on their paw pads, but that the papillae on polar bears were taller - up to 1.5 times. ![]() But what makes it possible for some Arctic animals to walk and run across the ice so effortlessly and gracefully without slipping and falling? Researchers took a deep dive into the paws of polar bears to find out. Humans have been continually interested in discovering how to better move across wet or frozen surfaces safely - whether to improve shoes for walking on sidewalks or tires to maneuver the roadways. 1 2 Do polar bear paws hold the secret to better tire traction? Date: DecemSource: University of Akron Summary: Traction is important. ![]()
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