If a cheetah and a mite raced at any distance, the cheetah would win every time. If they raced a mile, the cheetah would nearly win by a mile. Then why is the mite considered the fastest land animal on the planet?

By body lengths per second (a time span in which the sesame-seed size mite advances its constitution 322 times), the mite is the fastest moving land animal, science daily news reported. If cheetahs moved their beings at the same pace, they'd be about 20 times faster than they already are. For humans, the effect would raise their top speed to 1,300 mph.

The mighty mite crushed the previous record for body lengths per second, previously 177 and held by the Australian tiger beetle.

"It's so cool to discover something that's faster than anything else, and just to imagine, as a human, going that fast compared to your body length is really amazing," said Samuel Rubin, a junior and physics major at Pitzer College in Califorina.

Rubin worked closely with his advisor, professor of biology at Pomona College, Jonathan Wright. Wright first became interested in the insect for the purpose of studying the relationship between biochemistry and speed. Essentially, he wanted to see if there was a limit to speed in insects.

"We were looking at the overarching question of whether there is an upper limit to the relative speed or stride frequency that can be achieved," said Wright. "When the values for mites are compared with data from other animals, they indicate that, if there is an upper limit, we haven't found it yet."

With the transcendent speed of mites, Rubin envisions their findings impacting mechanical engineering.

"But beyond that, looking deeper into the physics of how they accomplish these speeds could help inspire revolutionary new designs for things like robots or biomimetic devices."