Biomimicry News & Research

Stirred, not shaken: Bio-inspired cilia mix medical reagents at small scales (7/1/2009)

Engineers used a novel underwater manufacturing technique to successfully build biomimetic cilia. The hairlike appendages mix tiny volumes of liquid to speed up biomedical reactions. ...> Full Article

Crustacean shell with polyester creates mixed-fiber material for nerve repair (6/17/2009)

Weaving chitosan, found in the shells of crabs and shrimp, with an industrial polyester creates a promising new material for biomedical applications, including the tiny tubes that support repair of a severed nerve. ...> Full Article

Beetle shell inspires brilliant white paper (6/11/2009)

An obscure species of beetle has shown how brilliant white paper could be produced in a completely new way. A team from Imerys Minerals Ltd. and the University of Exeter has taken inspiration from the shell of the Cyphochilus beetle to understand how to produce a new kind of white coating for paper. ...> Full Article

New radio chip mimics human ear (6/5/2009)

Could enable wireless devices capable of receiving cell phone, Internet, radio and television signals ...> Full Article

Navy grant to fund probe of squid and octopus camouflage (5/21/2009)

Octopuses and squid are big brained species that use much of their mental powers to adjust their own appearances. This remarkable ability to camouflage on the fly has inspired the US Office of Naval Research to award $7.5 million to Duke University and two collaborating institutions to learn more about how the animals do it. ...> Full Article

Getting a grip: 'Velcro'-like structure helps bees stick to flowers (5/15/2009)

When bees collect nectar, how do they hold onto the flower? Cambridge University scientists have shown that it is down to small cone-shaped cells on the petals that act like Velcro on the bees' feet. ...> Full Article

'Gecko vision': Key to the multifocal contact lens of the future? (5/8/2009)

Nocturnal geckos are among the very few living creatures able to see colors at night, and scientists' discovery of series of distinct concentric zones may lead to insight into better cameras and contact lenses. ...> Full Article

Research gives clues for self-cleaning materials, water-striding robots (5/5/2009)

Humans have marveled for millennia at how water beads up and rolls off flowers, caterpillars and some insects, and how insects like water striders are able to walk effortlessly on water. University of Nebraska and RIKEN research into super hydrophobic properties provide hints to researchers to develop these abilities in things like micro-robots, self-cleaning fabrics and other surfaces. ...> Full Article

Unifying the animate and the inanimate designs of nature (4/29/2009)

Living beings and inanimate phenomena may have more in common than previously thought. ...> Full Article

Bird feathers produce color through structure similar to beer foam (4/4/2009)

Some of the brightest colors in nature are created by tiny nanostructures with a structure similar to beer foam or a sponge, according to Yale University researchers. ...> Full Article

Researchers develop flow sensors based on hair structures of blind cavefish (3/25/2009)

The fish species Astyanax fasciatus cannot see, but their unique technique for sensing their environment and the movement of water around them with gel-covered hairs that extend from their bodies may inspire a new generation of sensors that perform better than current active sonar. ...> Full Article

First high-resolution images of bone, tooth and shell formation (3/13/2009)

Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology have for the first time made high-resolution images of the earliest stages of bone formation. They used the world's most advanced electron microscope to make three-dimensional images of the nano-particles at the heart of the process. The results provide improved understanding of bone, tooth and shell formation. For industrial applications, they promise better materials and processes based on nature itself. The findings form the cover story of Science magazine of Friday, March 13. ...> Full Article

Lovely 'snowfakes' mimic nature, advance science (2/28/2009)

Exquisitely detailed and beautifully symmetrical, the snowflakes that David Griffeath makes are icy jewels of art. ...> Full Article

Crab claws pack strengthening bromide-rich biomaterial (2/26/2009)

University of Oregon-led study is part of effort to tap nature's secrets for building tiny tools ...> Full Article

A research work on molluscs nacre opens new doors for its possible use in biomedicine (2/13/2009)

Scientists from the University of Granada, Spanish National Research Council and the University of Aveiro have studied nacre's growing mechanism of gastropods, a previous step for the artificial reproduction of this material in laboratories which could make possible its use in biomedicine. Although molluscs have been producing nacre for million years, men had not been able to reproduce it artificially. One of its possible applications would be the regeneration of human bones ...> Full Article