These petunias launch seeds that spin 1,660 times a second

High-speed cameras capture how fastest-known rotation helps plants fling seeds far

FRUIT PUNCH  The seed-studded fruit of a hairyflower wild petunia (Ruellia ciliatiflora) is hygrochastic, bursting open upon contact with water.

Erin Tripp/Univ. of Colorado

Nature may have a few things to teach tennis players about backspin.