Woodpeckers experience forces up to 1,200-1,400 g while pecking. It is assumed due to evolutionary adaptations, the woodpecker is immune to brain injury. This assumption has led to the use of the woodpecker as a model in the development of sports safety equipment such as football helmets. However, a new study from the Boston University School of Medicine complicates this story by showing that woodpecker brains contain build-ups of the tau protein,...
