Now presenting: the springtail!

It jumps … right off the water!

Explosive!

150 times faster than a blink!

Here at the water’s edge, where these springtails  live, it’s a tiny circus that never stops.

Sure, they can also walk … … and glide.

But the spring in springtail is for escaping.

When you’re the size of a poppy  seed, lots of things want to eat you.

Like this young water strider.

Nope!

Not today, kid!

Hey, hold my beer!

To power these lifesaving leaps, a  springtail deploys … the furcula!

It just pushes down this lever and in  two milliseconds it’s defying gravity.

It vaults up to what would be  a sixth floor for you and me.

But what goes up must come down, and  hopefully you land right side up … … so you’re ready to dart off again  when the water strider catches up.

Yeah, water striders jump too.

So, how does the springtail stick that landing?

It all starts up in the air.

Scientists at Georgia Tech put springtails  in a wind tunnel, blowing air up from below.

As they hover, they spin  like wild trapeze artists.

By curving its body into a U shape, a springtail  stops spinning and rights itself midair.

And see that little circle on its belly?

That’s a   teeny tiny drop of water clinging  to a tube called the collophore.

That droplet makes all the difference.

It lowers the springtail’s center  of gravity and stabilizes it.

When it lands, the drop glues  the springtail in place.

It’s really helpful during a bumpy landing.

It even works on dry land.

Without that drop, oh … ooh.

But most of the time they fly through  the air with the greatest of ease,