Thank Your Cilia
June 28, 2012
Throughout your body, cilia (protrusions on cells, singular cilium) are monitoring the environment and sweeping your passages clean.
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Why Your Inner Ear Has a Spiral Shape
June 21, 2012
The cochlea in the inner ear, where sound is transmitted to the brain, has a spiral shape resembling a snail shell. It's not just to save space, researchers have found.
Pitcher Plant Inspires R&D Award
June 21, 2012
The R&D 100 award, previously given for inventions like the fax machine and automated teller machine, has been given this year for a biologically-inspired design that could revolutionize society in many ways.
Animal Olympians Inspire Engineers
June 13, 2012
Here are more stories about animals, plants and cells attracting scientists with their astonishing capabilities, proving that biomimetics is one of the hottest trends in science.
Follow the Leader: Plants and Animals
May 7, 2012
Need solutions to engineering problems? Look no further than the plants and animals around you. That's what more and more scientists are doing.
From Wonders of Nature to Wonders of Technology
April 22, 2012
Living things have solved physics problems like design engineers. Inventors are just now catching on to their tricks in ways that could improve our technology, weaning us off our crude, polluting past and ushering in advanced technology that is not only greener but more effective. The latest stars are two insects and a bacterium.
News for the Birds
January 24, 2012
Our amazing feathered friends range from tiny hummingbirds to fast-running ostriches, from penguins to pigeons. In both living and fossil forms, they provide endless opportunities for study and fascination. Here are a few recent examples of news for the birds, in both good and bad connotations of the phrase.
Living Surprises, Living Hopes
January 21, 2012
Here are ten recent discoveries about plants and animals that are surprising and inspiring. Some of them may lead to technologies that can improve our own lives.
Nature Does It Right
January 4, 2012
Scientists and engineers continue to find well-designed features in living things that are worth imitating.
Biomimetics for Your Christmas Wish List
December 8, 2011
Biomimetics (the imitation of nature) continues to promise cool gadgets and useful materials that will someday yield prized gifts under the tree. Some of them might even save your life.
Incredible Small Creatures That Deny Evolution
November 19, 2011
While the largest of animals impress us with their size and bulk, some of the most amazing are those you could hold in the palm of your hand. Here are three worth appreciating a little more.
Engineers Tip Hat to Nature
November 6, 2011
It’s conventional in blogging to give an HT (hat tip) to a friend who makes you aware of a cool item. Engineers are giving hat tips to plants and animals as they seek for amazing new products that do wonderful things, just like the ones in nature.
Amazing Bird Tricks
October 27, 2011
“Angry Birds” are perhaps the best known species among electronic bird-watchers these days, but we should never forget that real birds are amazing creatures. Incredibly diverse (think ostrich to hummingbird to penguin), they continue to fascinate scientists and laymen. Here are some recent science stories about our feathered friends.
Can Biomimetics Shed Light on Evolution?
October 17, 2011
Biomimetics is part science and part engineering. The scientific part is to observe and understand the structure and function of a living thing. The engineering part is to apply that science into useful products. Science news articles today are claiming that a biomimetic flying machine modeled on insects is shedding light on evolution. Such a claim deserves some scrutiny.
Biomimetics to the Rescue of Science
October 10, 2011
The booming field of biomimetics (imitating nature’s designs) is fascinating not only for the amazing products it promises, but for the fresh new opportunities it provides for science and engineering. From viruses to mammals, everything in the living world is now being seen in a new light: agents of innovation that humans can learn from. Here are just a few examples in recent news, arranged in order from large to small inspirational creatures.