The brain of a woodpecker experiences a seemingly catastrophic impact every time beak meets wood.
“When you see these birds in action, hitting their head against a tree quite violently, then as humans we start wondering how does this bird avoid getting headaches or brain damage,” says Sam Van Wassenbergh, a researcher at the University of Antwerp in Belgium.
In the past, scientists have suggested the bird’s brain is protected from the impacts, perhaps by a skull that acts as a cushion, or a beak that absorbs some of the force, or a tongue that wraps around the brain.
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