SSS 2008-04-16

（单词翻译）

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science, I'm Steve Mirsky. Got a minute?

When I got into a cage with a Komodo dragon almost 10 years ago for a story, I had no idea that its skull¹ was so special.  Neither did scientists until now.  But a report in the Journal of Anatomy² reveals that the world’s largest living lizard³ has a remarkable⁴, space frame skull. Space frame refers to a light, rigid⁵ structure with interlocking struts⁶ that can handle big loads. The shape of the skull bones and the arrangement of bones of different strengths is the key.  The researchers employed a technique called Finite Element Analysis, which is usually used to analyze⁷ trains or planes. But in this case it let them reverse engineer the Komodo to study the mechanical forces that the skull is subject to.As opposed to, say, an alligator⁸, the dragon has a pretty wimpy⁹ bite. So rather than clamp down on its victims, it yanks off chunks¹⁰ of meat, a move powered by incredibly strong neck muscles.  And made possible by that space-frame skull able to handle the huge forces involved. Our March 1999 article on Komodos is available at sciamdigital.com.

Thanks for the minute, for Scientific American's 60-Second Science, I'm Steve Mirsky.