BiggerAnimalsKeepaStiffLowerFootAstudyintheJournaloftheRoyalSocietyInterfacefoundthatasmammaliananimalsincreaseinsize,theirfeetdonotscaleupaccordingly--butthereisageneralincreaseinthestiffnessofthefootpad.KarenHopkinreportsMarch1,2010Bigcatsorwolvesseemlikescaled-upversionsofthetabbyorterriersleepingonyoursofa.ButtheproportionsdosubtlychangeasHYPERLINK"http://www.scientificamerican.com/topic.cfm?id=animals"animalsgetlarger.Foronething,biganimals’feetaresmallerrelativetotheirbodiesthanaresmallerbeasts’.Buttheycompensatewithphysics,accordingtonewresearchintheJournaloftheRoyalSocietyInterface.[see:http://bit.ly/cDdbUx]Whenwethinkaboutanimallocomotion…whetherit’swalking,running,orjuststandingaround…weusuallyfocusonthebonesandmusclesinthelegsandfeet.Butforfour-leggedcritters,it’sthefootpadsthatultimatelysupporttheanimal’sweight.Soscientists[Kai-JungChi,NationalChung-HsingUniversity,RepublicofChina(Taiwan)andV.LouiseRoth,DukeUniversity]decidedtotakeacloserlookatthese“naturalshoes”indifferent-sizedcarnivores,includingdogs,cats,wolves,leopardsandhyenas.Andtheyfoundthattherelativelysmallerfootpadsof,say,leopardsaremuchstifferthanthoseoflittlebittykitties.Apparentlysothatthebigcats’feetcanhandletheHYPERLINK"http://www.scientificamerican.com/topic.cfm?id=stress"stressofthegreaterbodyweight.Ifatiger’spawswereassoftasahousecat’s,he’dneedhippo-sizedfeettostand.It’ssaidthatthebiggertheyare,thehardertheyfall.Butnowweknowthatthebiggertheyare,thehardertheirfeet.—KarenHopkinSinkingShipsImplyAltruismTakesTimeAstudyintheProceedingsoftheNationalAcademyofScienceslookedatthesurvivalratesofmen,womanandchildrenfromtheTitanicandtheLusitania,andfoundmoremenstayedalivewhentheshipwentdownfast,andpanicovertookchivalry.KarenHopkinreportsMarch2,2010WhenanoceanlinerstartstakingonHYPERLINK"http://www.scientificamerican.com/topic.cfm?id=water"water,whatgovernswhetherit’s“womenandchildrenfirst”or“everymanforhimself”?AccordingtoareportintheProceedingsoftheNationalAcademyofSciences[see