Thriving natural systems precisely regulate their complex chemical organizations in space and time by recruitment of a complex network of fuel-driven, kinetically controlled, out-of-equilibrium transformations. Indeed this provides an active, adaptive and autonomous smart actions & functions. In contrast, synthetic systems exhibit simpler behavior owing to thermodynamically driven supramolecular polymerization with […]

A study of orb weaver spiders finds their massive webs also act as auditory arrays that capture sounds, possibly giving spiders advanced warning of incoming prey or predators.

In experiments, the researchers found the spiders turned, crouched or flattened out in response to sounds, behaviors that spiders have been known to […]

Researchers from Monash University have discovered a new design motif derived from the rigid external covering of invertebrates that may help create more damage tolerant materials for future building and construction.

In a paper published in Nature Communications, Professor Wenhui Duan from the Department of Civil Engineering […]

The following paper explores the quill properties and structures of the Hystrix(Old World) and Erethizon(New World) porcupines. Both quills have a keratinous cortex filled with closed cell foam, that have good tensile strength, extensive deformation properties, and compressive capabilities. The main difference between the quills is the presence of stiffeners inside […]

Researchers from the University of Oregon have grown rodent retinal neurons on a fractal-patterned electrode, one that mimics the repeating branching pattern in which neurons naturally grow. These neurons, which themselves are fractals, will connect better to a fractal-patterned electrode than they do to more traditionally shaped electrodes, allowing better signal […]

While the advancements and technological discoveries humans make may seem useful to us, they often impact other animals or elements in our world very differently. We typically only acknowledge our own needs and design solutions for those, without realizing what affect it may have elsewhere. One example of this are the […]

Researchers at the Mississippi State University have discovered the exceptional energy dissipation abilities of the woodpecker’s beak. Woodpeckers use their beaks to make holes in trees for a variety of reasons, the most prevalent of which is to find food. Insect larvae discovered beneath the surface of tree bark are eaten […]

New research shows that hearing in a species of orb-weaving spider called the bridge spider (Larinioides sclopetarius) is not constrained by the organism’s body but is extended through outsourcing hearing to its proteinaceous, self-manufactured orb web.

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New biological tools provide new techniques to probe fundamental biological processes. Here we describe the burgeoning field of proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs), which are capable of modulating protein concentrations at a post-translational level by co-opting the ubiquitin-proteasome system. We describe the PROTAC technology and its application to drug […]

Transitions to terrestriality have been associated with major animal radiations including land snails and slugs in Stylommatophora (>20 000 described species), the most successful lineage of ‘pulmonates’ (a non-monophyletic assemblage of air-breathing gastropods). However, phylogenomic studies have failed to robustly resolve relationships among traditional pulmonates and affiliated marine lineages that comprise […]

Jacob Peters and L. Mahadevan from Harvard University, with Orit Peleg from the University of Colorado sought to detail the precise changes that a swarm of honeybees makes as air temperatures rise and fall. It was known that, when unable to relocate to a place with a more habitable temperature, a […]

“In modern societies, sleep deprivation is a serious health problem. This problem could be induced by a variety of reasons, including lifestyle habits or neurological disorders. Chronic sleep deprivation (CSD) could have complex biological consequences, such as changes in neural autonomic control, increased […]

Abstract:
Besides the life-as-it-could-be driver of artificial life research there is also the concept of extending natural life by creating hybrids or mixed societies that are built from natural and artificial components. In this paper we motivate and present the research program […]

Frequency Therapeutics is a biotech company that is seeking to reverse hearing loss not with implants or hearing aids but through regenerative therapy. By planting stem cells in the ear, it enables tiny hair cells to emerge enabling its users in fix their speech perception aka hearing. So far 200 people […]

Since the birth of synthetic hydrogel 60 years ago,
hydrogels possessing various useful properties and functions have
been developed. The research directions of hydrogels have
expanded to diverse application fields as well. However, in contrast
to natural hydrogels found in biological soft tissues, which have
elaborate […]