Researchers from the University of Oxford managed to create a bio-inspired superglue with unmatched performance by engineering an unusual protein from Streptococcus pyogenes – a type of bacteria that can cause mild infections as well as some life-threatening diseases. The modified protein enables sticking molecules, proteins or enzymes together to build new structures on the… »

Two separate research groups have applied two different approaches to improve cement in order to make it more durable and greener. Researchers from the Michigan State University have found that mixing ground waste glass into the cement makes resulting concrete stronger, more durable and more resistant to water, while Drexel University researchers found a way… »

In recent years, enhancements in the multimedia quality increased the demand for wireless communication speeds which lead to increased need for more frequencies, especially for ones bellow 6 GHz band. A joint development from National University Corporation, Tokyo Institute of Technology and Sony resulted with a radio frequency (RF) LSI and a baseband (BB) LSI… »

The flat roofs of many buildings as well as some unused floors in some buildings could be used for hydroponic gardening. Aside needed space, the plants growing there could also rely on building‘s waste heat and cleaned waste water. Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology (UMSICHT) are developing their solution… »

We already published several articles about studies where spiders served as inspiration for biomimicry and analysis, but the new study by the researchers from the University of Akron developed the new biocompatible synthetic material similar to a specific kind of silk spun by orb spiders. The material could be used as new kinds of medical… »

Engineers at Harvard University developed a new technique inspired by pop-up books which enables rapid fabrication of a broad range of electromechanical devices through layering and folding process. The method is also useful for parallel fabrication of Monolithic Bee (also known as “Mobee”) microrobots which rely on PARITy drivetrain we described in one of our… »

Most viral infections are treated with antiviral drugs which are often derived from N-Acetylneuraminic acid (NANA) – a material which costs around fifty times more than gold despite the fact it can be synthesized or obtained from natural sources. Researchers at the Vienna University of Technology found a new way to produce NANA from chitin… »

While many research groups investigate toughness of spider silk by investigating the material itself, researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Politecnico di Torino in Italy combined experimental observations of spider webs with complex computer simulations to discover that web durability relies on the overall web design which compensates for potential stress of… »