3 ms·
Not only do many organisms have propellers in the form of flagella, but many like myxococcus xanthus are themselves propellers, using shaped proteins to corkscr
by causality0 5y ago
Not only do many organisms have propellers in the form of flagella, but many like myxococcus xanthus are themselves propellers, using shaped proteins to corkscrew through water. It's baffling that both the author and their editor could be so ignorant.
- fennecfoxen 5y agoWhy would this ignorance be noteworthy or baffling to you, who are informing so many readers of HN of this fact for the first time?
- causality0 5y agoHave a large portion of HN readers never taken grade school biology? Have a large portion of HN readers never seen sperm? That aside, the baffling part is the author thought himself well enough informed to write the article in the first place, and then that these foolish ramblings made it to the HN front page.
- ccvannorman 5y agoMy first thought as well, thanks for this :D Here's one of 500K+ results from Google for "Flagella propeller" [] https://www.nature.com/articles/nrmicro744 https://www.nature.com/articles/nrmicro744
- rolph 5y agothis is a case in favor of well rounded life experience. the events occuring at the cellular and bacterial level dont scale up saliently. if we were to exploit molecular rotational engines or dynamos they would be engineered as an array, the final device would not reveal its molecular organisation as saliently as a wheel and axle assembly does. muscle tissue is one example, although not constructed of rotational elements, the underlying structure is likened to a linear track motor, and could perhaps be cyclized to form a stator and rotor like mechanism.
- formerly_proven 5y agoNevermind the powerhouse of the cell.