Why elephants can't dance... Royal Institution reveals how size and strength go hand in hand

By LIZ NEALE

Big or beautiful? Graceful ballerinas glide through the air with ease - but physics dictates that it's a lot harder for something as big as an elephant to take off


Ever wondered why elephants can’t dance?

Strictly Come Dancing showed us that the most graceful performers are not usually the biggest, despite valiant efforts from the likes of Ann Widdecombe and John Sergeant.

But is it all down to rhythm, or something a bit more scientific?

Big or beautiful? Graceful ballerinas glide through the air with ease - but physics dictates that it's a lot harder for something as big as an elephant to take off
This year’s Royal Institution Christmas Lectures promise to reveal exactly why size matters, demonstrating everything from skydiving hamsters to building a lift all the way to the moon.

Materials scientist Dr Mark Miodownik explained: ‘It’s to do with your surface area to volume ratio. It’s how much skin you have on the outside compared to how much of you there is on the inside.

‘As you get bigger of course you get heavier but you get disproportionately heavier.
‘If something doubles in size it gets eight times heavier so gravity has a bigger impact on you – and then as you shrink down the opposite happens.’



Full marks for effort: Ann Widdecombe with Anton on Strictly Come Dancing


Dr Miodownik demonstrated his theories with volunteers on an extreme scale - a strongman lifting dumb bells the scientist couldn't even move, and an army of leaf cutter ants with genuinely superhuman strength.

There's also a real-life flea circus, performing acrobatic stunts on a tiny - and impressive - level.

'I suppose the interesting thing is that you think that little animals are miniature versions of us but the physics that dominate their scale means they live completely different lives,' he said.

'The whole concept of the first lecture is that although we think that everything lives in the same universe and is subject to the same laws, it does not work out that way.

'The new Jack Black movie Gulliver’s Travels completely ignores this issue.'
But he added: 'It’s a weird world we live in and that’s what makes it interesting.'


source: dailymail