Overview
- The paper in Science reports that outer epidermal cell walls in the trap rapidly soften by about 30–40 percent within roughly one second after stimulation, a change the authors say initiates the snap.
- The team used a mix of approaches — high-speed imaging, tiny indentation stiffness measurements, direct water-transport tests, trap slicing, moulding and gluing to constrain motion — to test competing mechanisms.
- Their mechanical modelling and measurements indicate the softening releases stored internal stress and drives a snap-buckling of the lobes, and they argue measured water flow is too slow to account for the sub-second closure.
- Some plant scientists contest the interpretation, arguing there may be faster parallel water pathways or that cell walls cannot biologically relax that quickly, and researchers say the molecular trigger and the reopening process still need study.
- Published Thursday, June 11, 2026, the study raises possible long-term uses in soft robotics and adaptive materials while leaving open biological questions and reminding readers that wild Venus flytraps are native to a limited, threatened range in North and South Carolina.