Elephant Trunk Inspires Robot Arm
July 9, 2007
Scientists are trying to imitate the smooth, supple movements of an elephant's trunk.
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Mother-of-Pearl Inspires Materials Science
July 5, 2007
It’s not only beautiful, it’s strong. EurekAlert described how scientists are intrigued by mother-of-pearl, also called nacre, because of its strength: you can drive a truck over it and it will not break. It is 3,000 times more resistant to fracture than the aragonite from which the oyster makes it. 95% of it self-assembles in […]
Stupid Evolution Quote of the Week: Design by Darwin
May 24, 2007
Can Darwin get credit for intelligently-planned research? Apparently John Chaput thinks so. A press release from the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University states this: Nature, through the trial and error of evolution, has discovered a vast diversity of life from what can only presumed to have been a primordial pool of building blocks. Inspired […]
Seeds Muscle Their Way into the Soil
May 11, 2007
A biological motor has been found, of all places, on the seeds of wild wheat. A team of German and Israeli scientists watched wheat seeds and found they could dig themselves into the ground. How can a dry seed, with no muscles, nerves or circulatory system, accomplish such a feat? It all becomes clear when […]
More Optical Design in Eye Retina Than Seen Before
May 2, 2007
For decades, evolutionists have used the vertebrate retina as an example of poor design (dysteleology). They have mocked how any designer could have been so unintelligent as to get the wiring backwards – with the photoreceptors behind a jumble of light-scattering cells. Creationists have countered that despite the arrangement, it works well.1 Now, they may […]
Snot Serious: Artificial Nose Works Better with Mucus
April 30, 2007
What will they think of next? Designers of electronic noses cannot yet come close to the natural nose in sensitivity. But in trying to improve their devices, they tried another trick from nature: artificial boogers. Yes, believe it or snot, adding a layer of synthetic mucus “improved the performance of their electronic nose allowing it […]
Swifts Dont Just Dream of Flying…
April 29, 2007
…they fly while dreaming. Did you know that swifts, the aerial acrobats of the air, sleep on the wing? That’s not all, they adapt their wing shape to turn on a dime. Science Daily summarized the cover story of Nature this week (April 26) that examined “wing morphing” in swifts – their ability to change […]
Spider Silk Admired, Not Duplicated
April 18, 2007
Spiders still maintain the edge in a technology humans want: a material that absorbs huge amounts of energy without breaking. The dragline silk spun by spiders is extremely robust – ounce for ounce stronger than steel, yet more flexible than Kevlar. If a web the size of a football field could be erected in the […]
The Amazing Pigeon Techno-Beak
March 15, 2007
How do homing pigeons find home? Scientists at University of Frankfurt may have found the answer: magnetic minerals in their beaks. A press release from Springer Publications describes the amazing pigeon techno-beak: In histological and physicochemical examinations in collaboration with HASYLAB, the synchrotron laboratories based in Hamburg, Germany, iron-containing subcellular particles of maghemite and magnetite […]
Submarine, Make Like a Fish
February 21, 2007
Submarine designers are learning a thing or two from fish. The latest fish trick to imitate is the lateral line: a row of specialized sensors fish have along their flanks. Fish use these for synchronized swimming and predator avoidance. EurekAlert reported on work by scientists at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne to build artificial lateral […]
Robot Legs Cant Keep Up With Animals
January 25, 2007
Robot designers are envious of animals. Insects, crabs and lizards leave them in the dust. Alison Abbott in Nature (Jan 18) described the latest attempts to get the bugs out of insect-imitating “biological robots.”1 “Programming a robot to think like an insect is tough,” the subtitle reads, “but it could help breed machines as manoeuvrable […]
This Bug Is Whiter than White, Brighter than Bright
January 19, 2007
Detergent manufacturers should get a load of this beetle. Cyphochilus, a resident of southeast Asia, is clothed in one of the brightest white surfaces (per unit thickness) known. British scientists reporting in Science1 were intrigued how the bug accomplishes this shining performance. Most bright-white surfaces, such as paint and paper, need a hundred times the […]
Animal Plan IT
December 15, 2006
Imitating animal technology is one of the hottest areas in science. The engineering and information technology (IT) observable in living things continues to astonish scientists and makes engineers want to imitate nature’s designs. Biomimetics is leading to productive, useful discoveries helping solve human problems and leading to a better life for all. Here are some […]
The Physics of Gecko Toes
December 6, 2006
Why would anyone want to know the details of physical forces when gecko feet walk on glass? Here’s why: “The results have obvious implications for the fabrication of dry adhesives and robotic systems inspired by the gecko’s locomotion mechanism.” A team of scientists from Santa Barbara and China watched gecko toes peel off glass and […]
Stupid Evolution Quote of the Week: Evolution as Inventor
December 5, 2006
This week’s award goes to Gines Morata, a research professor in Spain, who was interviewed in Current Biology.1 He gives us a glimpse into his biology classes: I often tell my students that they do not have to invent anything; in biology everything has already been invented. What they have to do is find out […]