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Starfish Master Terrain with Decentralized Navigation Strategy

1/26/2026

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Summary

Story summary

A new study finds that the common starfish (Asterias rubens) can climb varied surfaces despite lacking a centralized nervous system.
Researchers show the starfish adapts its movement to terrain and mechanical load via adhesive tube feet.
The study concludes that starfish employ a decentralized navigation strategy to move across diverse surfaces.
The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Story summary

A new study finds that the common starfish (Asterias rubens) can climb varied surfaces despite lacking a centralized nervous system.
Researchers show the starfish adapts its movement to terrain and mechanical load via adhesive tube feet.
The study concludes that starfish employ a decentralized navigation strategy to move across diverse surfaces.
The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.