Thaindian News

London, Nov 24 (IANS) Sharks use a similar technology to the dimples that help a golf ball to fly straight to make sudden changes in direction in the water at full speed.

They use barely visible scales on their skin to control the flow of water over their bodies, that they can tilt at up to 60 degrees in an instant.

The ability to turn so swiftly in the water makes the predators even better hunters, said Amy Lang of the University of Alabama in the US.

She explained that like a golf ball’s dimples, sharks had tiny ridges of teeth called mako scales that helped reduce the turbulence caused by the fish as they pass through the water, reports the Telegraph.

The turbulence is caused by what physicists call flow separation, where the flow at the surface breaks away and creates eddies that slows the object down, according to a University of Alabama statement.

“In nature, if you look at surfaces of animals, you’ll see that they are not smooth,” Lang said.

“They have patterns. Why? One common application of patterning a surface is to control flow - think of the dimples of a golf ball that help the ball fly farther.

“We believe scales on fast-swimming sharks serve a similar purpose of flow separation control,” lang added.

Limiting such turbulence by raising the ridges - a process known as denticle bristling - increases their control at high speeds, she said.

Mako scales are only found in areas of the shark’s body where flow separation is a major issue, she noted, such as behind the gills.

Lang and her colleagues from the University of South Florida presented their research at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society’s Division of Fluid Dynamics in Long Beach, California