How Woodpecker’s Perfect Skull Helped Improve Black Boxes

Why don’t woodpeckers get concussions even when they are banging their heads into a tree 20 times a second? The answer is simple. Their skulls are perfectly designed by mother nature to withstand impact so they can chip away at wood to store their food. The durability of woodpeckers’ skulls is not the result of hard bones. Their head has multiple components that divert vibrations from the brain to prevent trauma.  This inspired engineers to perfect the design for the black boxes they have on airplanes. The black boxes have been around since the 50s but still had some shortcomings. Even if they are extremely durable, there is still a chance that black boxes may not survive an airplane crash.  Engineers learned from the skull anatomy of woodpeckers and developed a new, multi-component ...