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Water borne

The basilisk lizard -found in the tropical rainforests of Central America -can perform an amazing feat: it can run on water. Harvard biologists Jim Glasheen and ThomasMcMahon recently found that the lizard swings its foot through the air and then slaps the water. The act creates an air pocket which prevents the animal from sinking. To do the same, a human being would have to move at a speed of 90 feet (ft) per second on water, for which he would have to exert 15 times more power than the world's 1opathletes.Well, some things will just have to remain beyond the reach of humankind (New Scientist, Vo1149, No 2023).

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