Found via the PLoS impact explorer, a study of why woodpeckers don’t get headaches despite slamming their heads into wood all day:
The special macro/micro morphological structures in woodpecker’s head including the hyoid bone, the uneven plate-like spongy bones and unequal length of upper/lower beak were major factors to non-impact-injuries. The long hyoid bone has played a role of safety belt to woodpecker’s head especially after impact. The outer tissue layer covering the upper beak was 1.6 mm longer than that of the lower beak; on the contrary, the high-strength bone structure of the upper beak was about 1.2 mm shorter than the lower beak. Beak morphology was found to affect impact force, brain strain. It was shown that most of the pecking forces were always carried by the longer beak during pecking.
dailymeh posted this on November 19, 2011
