Tag: biomimicry

Standing in a darkened room, we perceive someone’s presence without seeing them. The same is true for the elephant-nose fish, whose special organs discharge small voltages into the water around it, creating electric fields. If these electric fields are disturbed by an intruder, electroreceptors on the fish’s skin raise the alarm. By swimming around the intruder, the fish can...

How do camels keep cool in the searing heat? Their fur offers protection from the sun, preventing loss of moisture and allowing sweat to evaporate, creating a cooling effect. Now MIT researchers have applied the same principles to the goods industry, achieving similar results by developing a half-inch thick, two-layer membrane comprising water-retentive hydrogel and heat-diffusing aerogel. The development...

Whether you’re talking Velcro or plane wings, nature is a constant source of inspiration when it comes to human invention. Now, with its 40,000 muscles, an elephant’s trunk has served as the driving force for the development of a microhydraulic robot. It can grasp, pick up and release objects of different sizes and weights. A highly sensitive force sensor...