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Squirting cucumbers are name after the mode they oust their seed in a fierce jet of liquid — and now , scientists have finally unlocked the mysterious mechanics of these volatile launches .
New research suggests these uneatable Cucumis sativus ( Ecballium elaterium ) , whose name means " switch out " in Greek , pile up fluid in their fruit , building so much insistence inside the cucumbers that they finally burst . Remarkably , scientist discover that this air pressure drops just before the seeds are released , because the fluid drains from the fruits into the stem , shift its shape and sling the cucumber vine away so they spew their content .
Squirting cucumbers (Ecballium elaterium) eject their seeds in a violent jet of liquid.
The determination provide answers to query that have long intrigued research worker .
" For centuries people have asked how and why this sinful plant life sends itsseeds into the worldin such a violent way , " cogitation co - authorChris Thorogood , surrogate director and pass of science at Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum in the U.K. , said in astatement . " Now , as a team of biologist and mathematicians , we ’ve finally start to unpick this keen botanical closed book . "
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eject cucumbers are members of the gourd family unit ( Cucurbitaceae ) , which also includes melons , Cucurbita pepo and courgette . To get to the bottom of how these minuscule , furred cucumber vine release their seeds , Thorogood and his colleagues used clock time - lapse photography , CT scan and a high - speed camera up to of conquer 8,600 frame per second . The semen expulsion lasts only 30 millisecond — too brusque to be seen with the naked eye , consort to the statement .
The squad also measure the loudness of the cucumbers and stems before and after the plant released their seeded player . The researchers then fed these data point into numerical models to represent the mechanics and trajectories of the semen ejections .
The results , published Monday ( Nov. 25 ) in the journalPNAS , unveil for the first time how squirting cuke expel their seeds " with remarkable amphetamine and precision , " study co - authorFinn Box , a research fellow in the Physics of Fluid & Soft Matter group at the University of Manchester in the U.K. , tell in aseparate statement .
Fluid accumulate inside the cucumbers for several hebdomad , thereby build up the insistence required to eject the seeds . But in the day preceding the launching , some of the mobile moves into the stem , get it to grow longer , thicker and blind drunk . This process is " almost unheard of in the plant man " and shifts the slant of the Cucumis sativus in a way that maximise the bedspread of seeds once the fruits burst , Box say .
Microseconds before the ejaculate launch , the tip of the prow recoils out from the cucumbers , causing them to circumvolve as they catapult off . As a result of this twisting motion , squirting cucumber can confound seeds up to 33 feet ( 10 time ) away from the female parent plant at speeds of 66 feet per second ( 20 time per second ) .
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" The volatile launch of the cucumber plant has evolved over generations to help it survive , " Box said . " These mechanisms allow the plant life to disperse seeded player over a wide area and reduce overcrowding and competition among issue and other neighboring plants , see to it a good chance of survival for the next generation . "
According to the study , svelte changes to these mechanisms can lower the seeds ' chances of survival . In their models , the investigator explore the consequence of establish pressure level in the fruit without redistribute fluid to the stem , for good example , which led to a closer spread of seeds around the mother plant and cut seedling survival .
The results solve a long - stomach closed book , but they could also inspire new technologies , such as aesculapian devices that can eject medication on requirement at specific sites in the consistency , Box said in the first statement . " This inquiry offers potential applications in bio - enliven technology and textile scientific discipline , peculiarly on - demand drug delivery systems , " he pronounce .
