NewserSo how does one sperm manage to best tens of millions of competitors to fertilize the egg? It may have the best rhythm, a new study suggests.

Researchers analyzing how sperm cells move have come up with what they call a "simple mathematical formula" to explain what's happening, reports the BBC. They found that the tail creates a rhythm that propels the sperm forward, pulling the head forward and sideways in what may seem like chaotic fashion but is far from it. 

The "sperm stirs the fluid around in a very coordinated way to achieve locomotion, not too dissimilar to the way in which magnetic fields are formed around magnets," says Dr. Hermes Gadelha in a release from the University of York. The vast majority of the sperm cannot overcome the resulting fluid drag, but a select few are able to move forward.

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