Walking on Water
By Robert Bowen Suter
Fishing spiders move over water in ways that appear perplexing, yet the mechanics of their locomotion yield readily to experimental analysis
This Article From Issue
March-April 1999
Volume 87, Number 2
Page 154
DOI: 10.1511/1999.20.154
In the absence of divine intervention, a person cannot stand, much less walk, on water. But a number of tiny animals can do so quite easily. Buoyancy and surface tension balance the downward pull of gravity on their featherweight bodies, allowing these creatures to scurry over streams and ponds nearly as easily as a person traverses solid ground.
All photographs courtesy of Robert B. Suter.
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