... a central role in continuously shaping it. This has led to an emerging research area, at the nexus between biomechanics and neuroscience, termed behavioural energetics, which is focused on understanding the mechanisms of energy optimization and how this shapes our coordination and behaviour. In this Review...

... of muscle–tendon units is positioned. Optimal control A set of methods to find inputs to a time-dependent system that minimises an objective function. Precision The reproducibility, or repeated variation, of a given measurement. Predictive simulation Estimating system outputs using only inputs...

... contacts dampen pitching energy, favouring a four-beat gait that can distribute expensive transfer of support. However, the required pitching of a four-beat walk becomes more expensive as Murphy number increases. Using trajectory optimization of a simple model, I show that both the walking and slow running...

... speed based solely on metabolic energy minimization. Cost of transport Stability Optimization Balance Locomotion Humans have evolved the ability to walk very efficiently. Over generations, our bodies have evolved muscular and skeletal systems well suited to locomotion ( Alexander, 2003...

... by a work-based control optimization model. The model captured the fundamental dynamics of the transition and therefore allowed an exploration of parameter sensitivity for success at the manoeuvre (run-up speed, foot placement, etc.). The optimal transition of both the model and the parkour athletes used...

... consistently reduced ballistic height compared with running in normal gravity. We explain this trend by considering the vertical take-off velocity (defined as maximum vertical velocity). Energetically optimal gaits should balance the energetic costs of ground-contact collisions (favouring lower take-off...

.... Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd 2016 Summary: Exploitation of elastic recoil shapes the stance phase's segment movement in small birds; however, reducing the cost of locomotion is only a secondary movement criterion. Avian locomotion Charadriiform birds Kinetics Optimization Leg...

... . If, however, the activity of a single reaction dominates, then Y ( k,i )≈1, i.e. Y ( k,i ) is independent of k . For the two cases where the E. coli metabolic performance is optimized with glucose and succinate as the only available carbon sources, Y ( k )∼ k –0.27 . This is an intermediate behavior...

... used to optimize the swimming efficiency and the burst swimming speed. The results of the present simulations support the hypothesis that anguilliform swimmers modify their kinematics according to different objectives and provide a quantitative analysis of the swimming motion and the forces experienced...

... 2006 allometry fractal geometry optimization metabolic rate body mass The problem of the scaling between size and energy metabolism began with the verification, in the late 1800s by Rubner( Hoppeler and Weibel, 2005 ),that standard metabolic rate does not scale linearly with body mass...

.... In consequence, T. brasiliensis has an oxygen diffusion capacity two or three times higher than that of the rodents. In Tadarida brasiliensis the characteristics of the lung were accompanied by geometrical changes in the proximal airway, such as high physical optimization as a consequence of small variations...

... that were marginally sufficient to balance the daily energy budget within the time that is naturally available in a tidal system. We predicted the optimal gizzard sizes that are required to either (1) balance energy income with energy expenditure, or (2) to maximise net daily energy intake. The gizzard mass...

... of the shell. Real limpets are seldom optimally shaped, however, with a typical height-to-radius ratio of 0.68 and an apex well anterior of the shell’s center. The disparity between the actual and the hydrodynamically optimal shape of shells may be due to the high tenacity of limpets’ adhesive system. Most...