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To Keep Warm, Penguins Do The Wave

Antarctic's frigid temperatures are no match for penguin huddles. New research shows that Emperor penguins huddle together and move in a wave to create warmth.

Huddle Up!



Daniel Zitterbart, a PhD physics student at the University of Erlangen-Nüremberg in Germany became interested by the way the huddled group moved.

Zitterbart and other researchers spent an entire winter in 2008 tracking the movements. They used software that was originally designed to follow cancer cells. What they found was amazing.

Do The Wave



Creating the wave and huddling together saved the penguins a lot of energy.

Roughly every 30 to 60 seconds a wave of movement passed through the penguin huddle. The penguins moved only 5 to 10 centimeters to create the wave.

The wave may have other benefits. Researchers think the wave helps a penguin's blood circulation while standing for long periods of time.

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