International scientists discovered the mystery of Vietnamese bamboo attack

Some international scientists coming to Vietnam were curious about the Vietnamese bamboo pole.

Southeast Asia with its rich rainforest with thousands of insects and mammals is a place for a biologist to look for inspiration. But when scientist James Croft, Edith Cowan University, Australia, traveled to Vietnam, what made him curious was not the rich flora and fauna, but the heavy burden on the villagers. when more than their body weight, on 'a bamboo pole across the shoulders' - the blow .

'I'm curious about how the burden has grown , ' Croft said. 'I wonder if the bending of the lance allows them to convey more efficiently.' However, he also knows that the benefit of understanding the load on the bends gives different conclusions; some studies show that the two-pole poles carry a curvature that is beneficial, while others don't. Croft realized that many of the previous investigations had been done with novices, while the villagers he observed were real experts, many with decades of experience.

The bent bamboo beam protects the shoulders of the burden more.

After discussing this matter with scientist John Bertram from the University of Calgary, Canada, Mr. Croft decided to return to Vietnam to find out if the highly flexible experienced carriers adapted to the way they were. walk to help them carry heavy loads or not. The team published their findings in the Journal of Experimental Biology on December 4 that villagers carrying heavy loads on flexible bends can use up to 20% less energy than when used. hard column.

"The trip to Vietnam was both exciting and challenging," said Ryan Schroeder, also of the University of Calgary, describing how the trio drove near the southern Chinese border after flying to Hanoi. 'We have contacted with Thai Nguyen University of Medicine and Pharmacy and met with two scientists, Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Van Son and Dr. Hac Van Vinh. We then hired an interpreter to connect with people who have experience using bamboo beams , ' Schroeder said.

After recruiting 14 volunteers, between the ages of 18 and 80, the team asked them to carry the walking brace along a 20m long road, carrying a load of 0% to 50% of the body weight on the blow. their burden. The researchers then measured the volunteers' movements using an accelerometer placed on their ankles, back and sides.

Back at the University of Calgary, Schroeder analyzed the movements of the volunteers and realized that the villagers were adjusting their stride 3.3% (0.067 steps / second) when carrying half of their body weight. them on the shoulder. And when he built a computer simulation of the pedestrians and calculated the contribution of the flexibility of the brace to the effect of walking, he realized that the pedestrians moved with little effort. than when slightly off the natural oscillation of the burden.

The simulation also predicts that pedestrians carrying their own body weight on the bamboo pole will save nearly 20% of the energy compared to using a hard weighted beam. In addition, the bent bamboo beam protects their shoulders more , by reducing the force exerted on them by 18% when transporting half their body weight, and that allows them to carry extremely heavy loads. move miles.

Scientist Schroeder said : 'It seems that we can learn a lot from the rural people in Asia, who have used the bamboo pole to carry the burden for hundreds of years, if not thousands. year. He is also trying to use this principle in his new backpack design. "These simple yet remarkable tools are capable of reducing the power of people carrying them. Westerners are just beginning to catch up with this innovation," he said with a smile.

Let's take a look at the images of lovely bamboo beams that have existed for thousands of years on Vietnamese shoulders: