Worms navigate narrow paths faster than wide ones – these findings could inform robot design

By K. R. Prathyusha, Research Associate, BioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado Boulder

You might naturally expect a wide, open path to be faster and easier to navigate than a narrow one, just as birds fly freely through the open sky, cars move quickly on empty roads, and a wide hallway seems easier when trying to exit a building.

However, many organisms do not have the option to move through open spaces. Whether burrowing through soil or swimming through water, they’re forced to maneuver through narrow gaps in tiny pores, rocks, roots, plants or other obstacles.

My team’s recent research on California blackworms suggests that, sometimes, such

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