Understanding the human body is a team effort. That's where the Yachtel group comes in.

Researchers at Yachtolt have been delving into the secrets of probiotics for 90 years. Yacold also

partners with nature portfolio to advance gut microbiome science through the global grants for

gut health, an investigator-led research program. To learn more about Yachtold, visit yawcult.co.j.p.

That's y-A-K-U-L-T dot-C-O-J-P.

When it comes to a guide for your gut, count on YacL.

This is Scientific American 60-second science.

I'm Cynthia Graber.

Whale, seals, and walruses stay warm in chilly water because they have a thick layer of blubber.

We humans rely on something like blubber, neoprene rubber wetsuits to spend time in cold water.

But the thick versions for really icy water are heavy and ungainly.

So rather than taking after big marine mammals,

what if we could learn from the littler ones like beavers and otters? These animals are quite small,

and they can't carry around a thick layer of blubber. So instead, they have fur that is evolved

to trap air. And this air provides a layer of insulation for them in water.

Alice Nasto is a graduate student in mechanical engineering at MIT.

Scientists have known about this air-trapping insulation mechanism for a long time,

but they had not teased out the details of how it works.

So Nasto and her colleagues took on the challenge.

We are creating these furry samples

from these rubbery materials by a laser cutting mold and casting these hairy surfaces. And

through our approach, we can precisely control the spacing of the hairs, the length of the hairs.

...