and the generated current is enough to reach the node of Ranvier, then the threshold is reached to produce an action potential. When the action potential is produced, ionic channels are activated so that the mechanical impulse is transduced into electrical. This signal is carried along the axon until it reaches the SNC where the information is processed. Although these summarized steps of mechanical transduction give a hint of how the star-nosed mole converts mechanical information into potential actions, the entire mechanism of transduction behind this intricate mechanoreceptor is still unknown and further studies are required. Behavior Despite the poorly developed eyes, star-nosed moles have an intricate system to detect prey and understand their environment. During exploration, the mole's star-like appendage produces brief touches which compress Eimer’s organ against objects or substrate. When foraging, moles search in random patterns of touches lasting 20–30 milliseconds. Catania and colleagues demonstrated that the tactile organ of the star-nosed mole is preferentially innervated by putative light touch fibers. When the outer appendages of the star come into slight contact with a potential food source, the nose is quickly shifted so that one or more touches are made with the fovea (the two lower appendages; 11th pair) to explore objects of interest in more detail – especially potential prey. This foraging behavior is exceptionally fast, such that the mole may touch between 10 and 15 separate areas of the ground every second. It can locate and consume 8 separate prey items in less than 2 seconds and begin searching again for more prey in as little as 120 ms, although the average time is 227 ms. The sequence described constitutes handling time. In studies made by high-speed video, the mole always foveated to the 11th appendage to explore a food item. The use of the 11th appendage of the tactile fovea is surprisingly similar to the manner in which human eyes explore details of a visual scene. This star-like nose also enables the mole to smell underwater, something which was previously thought impossible in mammals, which requires the inspiration of air during olfaction to convey odorants to the olfactory epithelium. Although the star-like structure is not a chemoreceptor itself, it helps the star-nosed mole blow between 8 and 12 small air bubbles per second, each 0.06 to 0.1 mm in size, onto objects or scent trails. These bubbles are then drawn back into the nostrils,