There’s something about zooming in on the life of bugs that’s so otherworldly. The springtail bug, for example, is a six-millimeter-long aquatic insect that’s able to blast itself off surface water; ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. For the first time ever, researchers have captured the world’s ...

Despite what you might say when drunk, you’re not the best backflipper in the world. That honor belongs to a tiny little bug called a globular springtail, whose superfast backflips have now been ...

Scientists have long assumed that springtails—teeny-tiny insect-like creatures found all over the world—fling themselves into the air at random to flee predators and other dangers. To the naked eye, ...

It’s not just panic and chance. Some of nature’s extreme self-launchers, the springtails, turn out to be much more acrobatic than scientists thought. Springtails, poppy seed–sized cousins of insects, ...

Using high-speed photography, researchers led by Víctor Ortega-Jiménez at the Georgia Institute of Technology have solved the mystery of how springtails jump away from danger and successfully land on ...