Prairie dogs live in large colonies in complex interconnected burrow systems. They face the problem of maintaining a sufficient air supply to their burrows to avoid suffocation. They avoid this by building conical earth mounds about some of their many burrow openings. In terms of Bernoulli's equation, how does this air conditioning scheme work? Note that because of viscous forces the wind speed over the prairie is less at close to ground level than it is even a few inches higher up. (See New Scientist, January 27, 1972, p. 191.)
Prairie dogs live in large colonies in complex interconnected burrow systems. They face the problem of maintaining a sufficient air supply to their burrows to avoid suffocation. They avoid this by building conical earth mounds about some of their many burrow openings. In terms of Bernoulli's equation, how does this air conditioning scheme work? Note that because of viscous forces the wind speed over the prairie is less at close to ground level than it is even a few inches higher up. (See New Scientist, January 27, 1972, p. 191.)