Imagine a tent that blocks light on a dry and sunny day, and becomes transparent and water-repellent on a dim, rainy day. Or highly precise, self-adjusting contact lenses that also clean themselves. Or pipelines that can ...
(Â鶹ÒùÔº) —Researchers led by scientists at Case Western Reserve University have turned to an unlikely model to make medical devices safer and more comfortable—a squid's beak.
The strong, flapping flight of bats offers great possibilities for the design of small aircraft, among other applications. By building a robotic bat wing, Brown researchers have uncovered flight secrets of real bats: the ...
In a sweeping review of the field of bio-inspired engineering and biomimicry in the Feb. 15 issue of the journal Science, two engineers at the University of California, San Diego, identify three characteristics of biological ...
With 3.5 billion years of research and development under her belt, Mother Nature could be considered the world's most experienced biological engineer. Sure, her methods may appear haphazard at times, but her track record ...
Using the legendary properties of heartwood from the black locust tree as their inspiration, scientists have discovered a way to improve the performance of softwoods widely used in construction. The method, reported in the ...
Biorecognition at the molecular level is a rapidly advancing technology that has enlisted the help of synthetic polypeptides to come up with the ultimate antibody.
(Â鶹ÒùÔº)—Researchers from Trinity College Dublin have shown that insects are made from one of the toughest natural materials in the world. The study's findings have been recently published in the leading international ...
Researchers from the University of Bristol have created artificial muscles that can be transformed at the flick of a switch to mimic the remarkable camouflaging abilities of organisms such as squid and zebrafish.
(Â鶹ÒùÔº) -- Mussels are true masters of adhesion. They bond solidly under water to nearly any type of surface. Researchers from Mainz have been inspired by mussel adhesive proteins to add another exciting property. As they ...
