By Peter Weiss
In a mere tenth of a second, without any muscles, a Venus flytrap’s jawlike leaves can imprison a hapless insect. Since the time of Charles Darwin, scientists have struggled to understand this feat.
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In the Jan. 27 Nature, researchers offer a possible explanation: With its peculiar leaf geometry, the flytrap Dionaea muscipula achieves fast, springlike action that’s usually off-limits to plant tissue.