Physics of Life Goes to Namibia to Ask the question, how fast should an animal walk?

Do water striders walk on water or are they actually swimming? Watch for the surprising answer.

The clever physics behind the click beetle's click. Filmed on location in Namibia

Real joints. How they’re built and how they work.

Measuring the material properties of bones by bending and breaking them in a big machine.

Why DON'T trees fall down? The answer will surprise you.

Solids and fluids behave in some similar ways, and in some fundamentally different ways. Here are some of the highlights.

The mechanics behind a basic structural element of animals and plants.

Bodies don't just move, they spin, and there's a special kind of momentum and inertia that applies there.

Inertia comes in several flavors. Here they are.

Newton's Laws of Motion

Momentum and force are fundamentally linked through Newton's Laws of Motion.

Compression, tension and torsion.

Energy and work are the same thing. Find out why.

Spectacular displays of fireworks convey basic principles of force, acceleration, momentum and ballistics.

A fundamental property of mass in motion and the rules that govern it.

All bodies have a center of mass. Find out what the center of mass is and how to measure it.

The mechanics behind a basic structural element of animals and plants.

The mechanics behind a basic structural element of animals and plants.

How do maple helicopters fly? Part 1 of a 2-part lesson.

Angular Momentum

How competitive rowers use a clever trick of momentum to give them the racer’s edge. Filmed on location on the River Cam at Cambridge University.

Physics of Life. The “helicopter” flight of the maple samara, and how it works.

Physics of Life. How you can combine the Young’s modulus and the Second Moment of Area to design strong light bones and tubes.