Friday, November 4, 2011

Can people walk on water? (VIDEOS!)

This is a question that came out of the science question box. I decided to keep it lively here by taking a little break from bees. My short answer? No.

What about these guys?

Well, the shoe company that made this ad later admitted that the videos were fake.

Walking on water is actually kind of a common magical trick. Here's a video of the "Masked Magician" showing you how the trick is done in a swimming pool with plastic platforms.


But then how, pray tell, do I explain the little basilisk lizard (aka "The Jesus Lizard" -get it- because it walks on water)? No special effects involved here!

Well, basilisk lizards are a lot smaller than us, and a lot lighter. Water has enough surface tension (strength at its surface) to let small, light things sit or run on the surface. Surface tension comes from the way that water molecules are attracted to each other, so they don't break apart as easily. Also, the basilisk lizard has large feet that spread out when they hit the surface of the water to spread out its weight kind of like wings.

Try this at home to see water's surface tension at work! The surface tension holds a lot more water on the penny than you would think it could!



Bugs are even better at this than basilisk lizards. Behold: The Water Strider!

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