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"2020 SP Week 07"
The chiton Acanthopleura hirtosa, found in the inter tidal zones of Australia’s coastline, mineralises its own teeth using iron extracted from sea water to create a magnetite tooth coating. This substance is the hardest known biomineral, tougher than stainless steel. The chiton’s magnetic teeth resemble iron-covered spoons assembled in a conveyor […]
At the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, engineers have designed a robot that mimics the motion of a salamander. The robot imitates the ambulation of the salamander with a unique vertebrate that allows the robot to slither in and out of the water. A salamander in nature can shift from a […]
Currently, there are no clinically approved surgical glues that are nontoxic, bind strongly to tissue, and work well within wet and highly dynamic environments within the body. This is especially relevant to minimally invasive surgery that is increasingly performed to reduce postoperative complications, recovery times, and patient discomfort. We describe the […]
You might know wasps for their ability to brainwash cockroaches or inflict one of the most painful stings on Earth—one so powerful that the actual scientific advice to victims is to just lie down and scream until it passes. Lesser-known is the wasp’s superlative ability to carry loads that are unexpectedly […]
A material inspired by natural insect cuticle and composed of chitosan and fibroin is created. The material exhibits the strength of an aluminum alloy at half its weight, while being clear, biocompatible, biodegradable, and micromoldable. The bioinspired laminate exhibits strength and toughness that are ten times greater than the unstructured component […]
Scientists are clarifying our understanding of how light wavelengths affect the way plants develop their chloroplasts. Chloroplasts use light from the sun and carbon dioxide to produce energy compounds and are filled with chlorophyll, a pigment that absorbs sunlight to kick off that process and express the color of plants. However, […]
The term bird’s nest is often used to describe a messy arrangement, but in reality they are much more durable, yet no one is sure about the mechanisms behind them. Dr. Hunter King at University of Akron, Ohio studies the structural dynamics of […]
Many robots’ movements are inspired by patterns of movements observed in animals, such as chemical swelling, skin stretching or origami morphing. Researchers at Seoul National University’s Soft Robotics Research Center have been studying how pelican eel fish inflates its mouth and have analyzed how this behavior could […]
Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology developed an ultrathin camera inspired by the structure of compound insect eyes. Measuring at a thickness of 740 micrometers, this tiny camera could potentially be used in mobile, surveillance, or medical applications. The lenses of this camera have a large degree […]
The Namib Desert, one of the driest regions in the world, gets less than half an inch of rain per year. But early in the morning, a light fog drifts over the desert, offering the plants and animals living in that harsh environment their only chance for a life-sustaining drink. When […]
Abstract Fish are a potentially rich source of inspiration for the design of smart materials. Fish exemplify the use of flexible materials to generate forces during locomotion, and a hallmark of fish functional design is the use of body and fin deformation to power propulsion and maneuvering. As a result of […]
Abstract To render high-fidelity wearable biomarker data, understanding and engineering the information delivery pathway from epidermally retrieved biofluid to a readout unit are critical. By examining the biomarker information delivery pathway and recognizing near-zero strained regions within a microfluidic device, a strain-isolated pathway to preserve biomarker data fidelity is engineered. Accordingly, […]
In a study published today in Biology Letters, researchers from UNSW Science’s School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences analysed all available academic literature on sex chromosomes and lifespan — and they tried to establish whether there was a pattern of one sex outliving the other that was repeated across the […]
A micro-/nanoscale hierarchical rough structure inspired by the underwater superaerophobicity of fish scales was fabricated by ablation of a silicon surface by a femtosecond laser. The resultant silicon surface showed superhydrophilicity in air and became superaerophobic after immersion in water. Additionally, inspired by the underwater superaerophilicity of lotus leaves, we showed […]
Displays for flexible and wearable electronic devices currently rely mostly on plastic. Researchers Hai-Dong Yu, Juqing Liu, and Wei Huang wanted to find a more environmentally friendly and biodegradable material for these displays. They discovered that the gelatin derived from collagen in fish scales is a promising alternative. After the gelatin […]
“We’re interested in developing the next generation of underwater vehicles so we’re trying to understand how dolphins and whales swim as efficiently as they do,” says Keith W. Moored. The tail fins of cetaceans (whales and dolphins) come in a wide variety of shapes. The way these animals move their fins, […]
Painful hypodermic needles may not be needed in the future to give shots, inject drugs and get blood samples. With 4D printing, Rutgers engineers have created tiny needles that mimic parasites that attach to skin and could replace hypodermic needles, according to a study in the journal Advanced Functional Materials. While […]
The peacock mantis shrimp packs a powerful punch. The crustacean uses its hammerlike claws to smash through mollusk shells and even aquarium glass without getting injured. Now, a new study reveals what makes its claws so tough: a unique composition and structure that stops cracks in their tracks—one that could help […]
A special glass coating, inspired by spider webs, has been used in the UK for the first time. “A friend of the owner of the company saw an article about the Orb-weaver spider,” said the firm’s export manager Natalie Kopp. “Its web reflects UV light protecting it […]
At Cambridge University, researchers are looking into ways to develop a process to make strong, stretchy threads in an environmentally friendly way. They hope to create such material that could replace plastics and other harmful materials. This new material the researchers are studying […]
We are familiar with drones that look high-tech but rather robotic, sprouting multiple sets of rotors or with long, imposing, fixed wings. Yet the UAVs of the future might look less like vehicles and more like insects, birds or even bats. Here we look at three nature-inspired examples.
Inspired by a scallop’s strong underwater propulsion mechanism, we designed and prototyped a scallop robot capable of clapping and swimming. In this work, an artificial velum was used to work as a check valve to stimulate the robot’s swimming. A couple of supporting plates were fixed on the robot shells to […]
Research on the lamprey brain has enabled scientists to push the birth of the cortex back in time by some 300 million years to over 500 million years ago, providing new insights into brain evolution. “That vital parts of the lamprey brain are conserved and organized in the same way as […]
Gathering inspiration from nature for the design of new materials, products and processes is a topic gaining rapid interest among scientists and engineers. In this review, we introduce the concept of nature-inspired chemical engineering (NICE). We critically examine how this approach offers advantages over straightforward biomimicry and distinguishes itself from bio-integrated […]
Bioengineers have redesigned how harmless E. coli bacteria ”talk” to each other. The new genetic circuit could become a useful new tool for synthetic biologists who, as a field, are looking for ways to better control the bacteria they engineer to perform all sorts of tasks, including drug delivery, bioproduction of […]
Biological materials such as nacre, found in mollusk shells and Bouligand structures, found in the armor of many arthropods, exhibit values of toughness that are much higher than their constituent materials. This is achieved via specific arrangements and combinations of natural materials. In […]
Cambridge, UK-based Evonetix was founded in 2015 with a focus on synthetic biology. In 2018, a Series A round raised $12.3 million and now the firm has raised $30 million in a Series B investment, led by west-coast investor Foresite Capital. The funding will be used to accelerate internal technology development, […]
Fire ants may be famous for their vicious sting, but they’re also remarkable builders, able to quickly assemble a working raft out of their own bodies and sail through dangerous flash flood waters. But their secrets of living masonry have remained shrouded from view.
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I imagine that the neurological circuits underlying these processes are governed by both 2d spacing maps with their brains as…
to reduce the impact of car accidents, it may be possible to study the force diverting physics of cockroaches to…
you see this type of head-bobbing stability in many avian creatures related to pigeons like chickens. the head ability to…
not like they taught horses how to run! this is an example of convergent evolution where both sea creatures and…
The brain functions in a similar way with neuronal connections. our brains are able to utilize the multiplicity of connections…