Polar bear cleverly crossing thin ice without breaking it is the physics lesson we needed

For humans, ice skating, ice hockey, or simply sliding across a sheet of ice on a frozen pond might be fun, but it's all done on thick ice for safety reasons. However, polar bears, whose natural habitat is confined to living on blocks of icy plains floating over freezing water, making their way over the cold surface can be a little challenging. These gigantic white bears might be the greatest predators in polar regions, but they can not swim forever without finding a solid base under their feet.

However, these predators have adapted to their environment and know exactly what to do while treading on thin ice. An enlightening video of a polar bear posted by u/Lolguppy on Reddit has been doing rounds on the internet offering insights into their behavior.

In this interesting footage, we can see the bear perfectly demonstrating how to cross a frozen body of water without falling through thin ice. However, falling into frigid water can not be a pleasant experience for anyone besides, it's life-threatening. Moreover, humans can take a lesson from this animal in case we land in a similar crisis.

In the video, we can see the bear emerging out of the water only to find itself on a block of thin ice sheets. However, instead of giving up and diving back into the water, the polar bear lies flat on its belly and drags itself forward using its paws at the front. Despite being in a dangerous situation, the bear displays its wit by evenly distributing its weight on the ice to avoid plunging through the surface. People were awestruck at this survival tactic displayed by the now-popular polar bear.

As the video started circulating on various social media platforms, people on the internet praised the bear's intellect for not falling through the ice and crawling until it was safe to walk again on all fours upon finding a thicker icy ground. One Twitter user @Rainmaker1973 also elaborated on the physics behind the bear's technique on ice. "P = F/A. This bear spotted crawling instead of walking on ice possibly learned that maximizing A and therefore reducing P increases the chances to reach the snow safely," the caption of the tweet read. To simplify it all, pressure is directly proportional to force but inversely proportional to area.

Twitter users hilariously praised the bear for being "good at math" and "knowing more about physics than most humans." However, no amount of survival techniques can save the population of polar bears if global warming does not get under control.

According to the World Wildlife Fund's reports, these creatures have made it to the list of endangered species. Since these bears heavily rely on sea ice to travel, hunt, rest and mating, the rapid melting of ice blocks in their habitat has posed a primary threat to the polar bear population in the Arctic regions. As their sea ice habitat recedes, polar bears have started spending longer periods on land, where they are often attracted to areas where humans live and have become a threat to human civilization as well.