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Biomimicry News And Research - September 2011 Archives
 | Lianas whose stabilization rings of woody cells heal spontaneously after suffering damage serve as a natural example to bionic experts of self-repairing membranes. Empa researchers have borrowed this trick from nature and developed a polymer foam surface coating with a closed cell construction which not only reduces the pressure loss after the membrane is damaged but also makes the inflatable structure more resistant and giving it a longer operational life. ...> Full Article |
 | Adopting the pitcher plant's slick prey-catching strategy, a group of applied scientists at Harvard have created a material that repels just about any type of liquid, including blood and oil, and does so even under harsh conditions like high pressure and freezing temperatures. The bio-inspired liquid repellence technology should find applications in biomedical fluid handling, fuel transport, and anti-fouling and anti-icing technologies. It could even lead to self-cleaning windows and improved optical devices. ...> Full Article |
 | Clean solutions to human energy demands are essential to our future. While sunlight is the most abundant source of energy at our disposal, we have yet to learn how to capture, transfer and store solar energy efficiently. According to University of Toronto chemistry professor Greg Scholes, the answers can be found in the complex systems at work in nature. ...> Full Article |
The discovery that a protein in insect skin is responsible for protecting the insect as it molts its skin opens the possibilities for selective pest control and new biomaterials like football padding or lightweight aircraft components. It also debunks a more than 50-year-old belief about the protective shell of insects.
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Tiny water creepy crawlies from South Korea and the Russian Far East
NASA satellite data helps pinpoint glaciers' role in sea level rise
Weather on the outer planets only goes so deep
Shattering the endurance record for small electric UAV
But what does it do?
Artificial forest for solar water-splitting
Sea level influenced tropical climate during the last ice age
World's smallest droplets
Using clay to grow bone
Grammar errors? The brain detects them even when you are unaware
Principles of locomotion in confined spaces could help robot teams work underground
Researchers perform fastest measurements ever made of ion channel proteins
Ultraresponsive magnetic nanoscavengers for next generation water purification
Do potatoes grow on vines? A review of the wild relatives of some favorite food plants
New discovery of ancient diet shatters conventional ideas of how agriculture emerged
Carnivorous plant throws out 'junk' DNA
Untangling the tree of life
More effective, cheaper concrete manufactured with ash from olive residue biomass
New quantitative analysis for open source software projects
High-volume Bitcoin exchanges less likely to fail, but more likely breached, says study
Computer scientists develop video game that teaches how to program in Java
Do palm trees hold the key to immortality?
Researchers show how we can do math problems unconsciously
Keep moving and have fun
New strategy for fingerprint visualization developed at Hebrew University
Children's bicycle helmets shown to be effective in impact and crush tests
How Usain Bolt can run faster -- effortlessly
Enhancing cognition in older adults also changes personality
Moth-inspired nanostructures take the color out of thin films
Robotic insects make first controlled flight
Seahorse's armor gives engineers insight into robotics designs
Insect-inspired camera captures wide field of view with no distortion, according to CU-Boulder study
Bed of needles
Not slippery when wet: Geckos adhere to surfaces submerged underwater
Cry me a river of possibility: Scientists design new adaptive material inspired by tears
Robot ants successfully mimic real colony behavior
Researchers unveil large robotic jellyfish that one day could patrol oceans
Sometimes, the rubber meets the road when you don't want it to