Scientists from the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and the University of Washington (UW) have been successful in engineering a nature-inspired molecule that can guide gold atoms to form faultless nanoscale stars.

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In what they call surprise findings, scientists report that — unlike fruit flies — mosquitoes’ odor sensing nerve cells shut down when those cells are forced to produce odor-related proteins, or receptors, on the surface of the cell. This ‘expression’ process apparently makes the bugs able to ignore common insect repellents.

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When naval ships and other sea vessels use sonar, many whale species flee for their lives; some even strand themselves on beaches in a desperate attempt to escape. Now, scientists have discovered the most likely reason: The loud sounds trigger the same fear response as when the animals hear calls emitted […]

In the natural world, many animals have evolved characteristics that help them to survive, and these properties can inspire elegant solutions to scientific challenges. One such challenge has been designing materials with surface lubrication properties that can be rapidly switched depending on the requirements of the application. Now, writing in Nature […]

Chemoreception is essential for survival. Feeding, mating, and avoidance of predators depend on detection of sensory cues. Drosophila contains diverse families of chemoreceptors that detect odors, tastants, pheromones, and noxious stimuli, including receptors of the Or, Gr, IR, Ppk, and Trp families. We […]

Biological systems possess nanoarchitectures that have evolved for specific purposes and whose ability to modulate the flow of light creates an extraordinary diversity of natural photonic structures. In particular, the striking beauty of the structural colouration observed in nature has inspired technological innovation in many fields. Intense research has been devoted […]

People worldwide are living longer. According to WHO, one in six people in the world will be aged 60 years or over by 2030. However, aging increases vulnerability to a wide range of human disorders, including cancers, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and neurodegenerative diseases. Roughly two-thirds of the 150,000 people who die […]

In the orb-weaving spider Larinioides sclopetarius, hearing is not constrained by the organism’s body but is extended through outsourcing hearing to its extended phenotype, the proteinaceous, self-manufactured orb web. We find that the wispy, wheel-shaped orb web acts as a hyperacute acoustic antenna to capture the sound-induced air particle movements that […]

Researchers have shown a new compound delivered in a nasal spray is highly effective in preventing and treating COVID-19 caused by the Delta variant in mice. The researchers believe this is the first treatment of its kind proven to be effective against all COVID-19 variants of concern reported to date, including […]

Global temperatures are rising at an unprecedented rate, but environmental responses are often difficult to recognize and quantify. Long-term observations of plant phenology, the annually recurring sequence of plant developmental stages, can provide sensitive measures of climate change and important information for ecosystem […]

Social foraging, where animals forage in groups, takes many forms but is less studied in marine predators as measuring social associations in the wild is challenging. We used biologging (activity, cameras and telemetry receivers) sensors to measure social associations and simultaneous behaviour, in white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) […]

This article discusses how Brazil seeks tech innovations inspired by nature through biomimicry. Examples include taking inspiration from the movement of whale fins to innovate wind energy generation and the circulation of air inside termite mounds inspiring sustainable building designs. Brazil is looking into winged seeds in rebuilding rainforests; The main […]

Abstract: Tunas of the genus Thunnus are a group of high-performance pelagic fishes with many locomotor traits that are convergently shared with other high-performance fish groups. Because of their swimming abilities, tunas continue to be an inspiration for both comparative biomechanics and the […]

“The honeybee tongue, foraging liquid food in nature, has a unique segmented surface covered with dense hairs. Since honeybees are capable of using their tongue to adapt to possibly the broadest range of feeding environments to exploit every possible source of liquids, the surface properties of the tongue, especially the covering […]

This article is about Peptide Mediated interactions. It reviews the biological system as well as new discoveries that have been made. In essence, what I learned throughout this article is that proteins are very important for the cellular machinery and are participating in most functions within the […]

A new study has found a material that can mimic the sea slug’s most essential intelligence features. The discovery is a step toward building hardware that could help make AI more efficient and reliable for technology ranging from self-driving cars and surgical robots to social media algorithms.

AI has a really […]

This pattern, termed “biological motion” in the literature, can
be used as a visual cue, enabling many animals (including humans) to distinguish animate
from inanimate objects. Crucially, even artificially created scrambled stimuli, with no recognizable
structure but that maintains semirigid movement patterns, are perceived […]

This article talks about the caterpillar, which can curl into a wheel and roll away when in danger. They can do so at incredibly high speeds, and they contain one of the “fastest self-propelled wheeling behaviors” in nature. Implementing the caterpillar’s rolling capabilities, scientists have been able to develop more efficient […]

Columbia Engineering researchers report that they have developed a “cloaking” system that temporarily hides therapeutic bacteria from immune systems, enabling them to more effectively deliver drugs to tumors and kill cancer cells in mice. By manipulating the microbes’ DNA, they programmed gene circuits that control the bacteria surface, building a molecular […]

“Scientists from the University of California, Davis, discovered that redwood trees have two types of leaves, and those leaves have completely different jobs… Together, these functionally distinct leaves allow the world’s tallest trees to thrive in both wet and dry parts of their range in California, without […]

Inspired by the pattern of shark skin, Sharklet is the unique biomimetic technology that achieves antibacterial and antifouling activities through microtopography on surfaces of various materials.Sharklet inhibits bacterial contamination with advanced surface technology. Different from chemical disinfectants and antibacterial products, Sharklet protects users from bacterial infections. Importantly, it will not cause […]

Researchers create mathematical model to analyze wheel spiders. The wheel spider data is used to bioinspire locomotion in robots through simulation.

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A single protein can reverse the developmental clock on adult brain cells called astrocytes, morphing them into stem-like cells that produce neurons and other cell types, UT Southwestern researchers report in a new study. The findings might someday lead to a way to regenerate brain tissue after disease or injury.

The paper discusses the significance of the newly designed voltage dependent calcium channel blockers. These channels facilitate the conversion of membrane electrical signals into Ca 2+ influx. This process helps in scenarios ranging from muscle contraction to synaptic transmission. These channel blockers are very important in aiding […]

Whole genome duplication (WGD) has occurred in relatively few sexually reproducing invertebrates. Consequently, the WGD that occurred in the common ancestor of horseshoe crabs ~135 million years ago provides a rare opportunity to decipher the evolutionary consequences of a duplicated invertebrate genome. Here, we present a high-quality genome assembly for the […]

“This paper presents a bioinspired landing system for autonomous aerial robots, built on the inspire–abstract–implement design paradigm and an additive manufacturing process for soft thermoplastic materials. This novel landing system consists of 3D printable Sarrus shock absorbers and soft landing pads which are integrated with an one-degree-of-freedom […]

This paper analyses how the microstructures and mechanical properties of horns can be related to different species’ fighting behaviours. 4 representative ruminant species: the bighorn sheep, domestic sheep, mountain goat and pronghorn were investigated. The mechanical properties of the horns under tensile stress […]

This paper describes how Cephalopods are capable of blending in with their environments through multiple layers of skin. Their camoflauge is unique because they can mimic color, movement, texture, and light, allowing them to blend in to a greater extent.

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The paper looks at the affects of the geometrically designed body of the killer whale, manta ray, and swordfish on their abilities to swim just below the surface of the water. The fusiform shape of the killer whale, diamond shape of the manta ray, and streamline shape […]

Over the past few years, biogenic methods for designing silver nanocomposites are in limelight due to their ability to generate semi-healthcare and para-pharmaceutical consumer goods. The present study reports the eco-friendly synthesis of silver nanoparticles from the hitherto unexplored mucus of territorial snail Achatina fulica by the facile, clean and easily […]

Mice with sloppy proteinmaking machinery grow old faster, study finds. Cells are continually cranking out new proteins, but like car factories, they produce some lemons. A study of mice now suggests these defective proteins speed aging, bolstering an idea first proposed 60 years ago. The new paper “fills a critical gap” […]

Suckerfish are known for hitchhiking on blue whales. Scientists recently discovered that suckerfish, contrary to previous belief, do not suction themselves to the bodies of blue whales. Instead, they hover above the whales’ skim that forms a low pressure zone that the suckerfish can ride effortlessly. This […]