Inspired by the hair-thin holdfast fibers that mussels secrete to stick against rocks, researchers from the University of Chicago managed to manufacture a synthetic version of the self-healing sticky substance used by mussels. The substance could be used as an adhesive or coating for underwater machinery or in biomedical settings as a surgical adhesive or… »
A group of researchers from the Colorado State University (CSU) managed to make a computer-designed detection trait work in a plant by rewiring its natural signaling process. It enables the plant to turn from green to white when chemicals are detected in the air around it or in the soil it is planted in. The… »
Researchers from Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) have broken one of the major roadblocks on the path to growing transplantable tissue in the lab, because they found a way to grow the blood vessels and capillaries needed to keep tissues alive. In a combination with their previous research, the team could grow… »
In order to survive in a tumultuous environment, sea urchins literally eat through stone. Sea urchins use their teeth to carve out nooks where they hide from predators and protect themselves from the waves. Despite constant grinding and scraping on stone, urchin teeth never get dull. This ability has puzzled scientists for decades, but researchers… »
By allowing aircraft to quickly sense which way is “up” by imitating how honeybees see, engineers and researchers at The Vision Centre, Queensland Brain Institute and the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering at The University of Queensland, have enabled planes to guide themselves through extreme maneuvers, including the loop, the barrel roll and… »
Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (IPA) in Stuttgart have successfully performed a process of genetic robotics where a moving robot was automatically designed without the intervention of a designing engineer. Genetic Robots are moving robots that can be created by using genetic software algorithms and additive manufacturing. The important role… »
The ability of elephant’s trunk to be flexible, transmit large forces, and serve as a precise gripping tool, has inspired researchers to come up with the Bionic Handling Assistant. It was developed by Festo in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (IPA) and within the framework of the Bionic Learning Network… »
Bone consists of fibers of collagen in which calcium phosphate is deposited in the form of nanocrystals. The team of dr. Nico Sommerdijk (Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry) consisting of researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and the University of Illinois was able to mimic the growth of calcium phosphate inside the collagen… »
