The Jellyfish’s Swimming Secret? It’s a Master of Suction

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[Narrator] Ah, the entrancing ballet of the jellyfish.

So graceful, so efficient.

Scientists have long known how economic jellyfish

locomotion is, but a new study exposes a hidden energy

saving trick that the creatures use to get around the ocean.

It looks like jellyfish are kicking to move around

but really they and an unrelated and horrifying creature

called a lamprey actually pull themselves through the water.

Look at this video the researchers made.

The red part on the lamprey is high pressure,

normal for a critter cutting through the water.

But the blue stuff, that's low pressure.

It turns out that the undulations of jellyfish and lamprey

bodies create low pressure vortices,

like you'd find in the eye of a hurricane or tornado.

That resulting low pressure sucks in water,

helping propel the creatures.

And the suction is so powerful,

that it's the dominant force in the animal's forward thrust.

Let's see your Dyson do that.

Because jellyfish and lampreys are so distantly related,

the researchers reckon that this trick of physics may be

widespread in the animal kingdom and not just in the oceans.

Bird wings may actually exploit it as well,

giving the creatures an extra little kick.

And the discovery could work its way into machines.

If engineers could figure out how to create these pockets

of low pressure on boats the vessels could save fuel.

So, thank you, little jellyfish

for your beauty and efficiency.

Now enough with the stinging already.

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