title: From red cells to snowboarding: a new concept for a train track.
abstract: Feng and Weinbaum [J. Fluid Mech. 422, 282 (2000)]] have shown that there is a remarkable dynamic similarity between a red cell gliding on the endothelial surface glycocalyx and a human snowboarding on fresh powder although they differ in mass by 10(15). The lift forces in each case are 4 orders of magnitude greater than classical lubrication theory. Herein we report the first measurements of the pore pressures generated on the time scale of snowboarding and show a feasibility of designing a train that can glide on a track whose permeability and elastic properties are similar to goose down.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering & New York Center for Biomedical Engineering, The City College of the City University of New York, 140th Street at Convent Avenue, New York, New York 10031, USA.
authors.forename: Qianhong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Yiannis
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Andreopoulos
authors.forename: Sheldon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weinbaum
mesh_terms: D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000502:physiology; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000502:physiology; D017276:Friction; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D055585:Physical Phenomena; D010825:Physics; D011312:Pressure; D012865:Skiing