An artificial lung built by researchers from Case Western Reserve University uses air instead pure oxygen which is required by current man-made lungs require. The researchers built the prototype device by following the natural lung’s design and tiny dimensions. Unfortunately, the commercial use of their invention is still years away, but the device is a… »
A team of researchers from the University of Akron (UA) has observed two species of spiders in order to develop stimuli-resistant and stimuli-sensitive materials. The research shows that the sticky glue that coats the silk threads orb-weaving spiders spin has a different structure, property makeup and response to humidity than glues produced by their evolutionary… »
last year we wrote about a group of researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) who have been conducting a field study at an experimental two-acre wind farm in northern Los Angeles County. In their new findings, the researchers came up with a way to increase the power output of wind farms simply by… »
A researcher from the University of Leeds has drawn inspiration from nature to build a robotic worm that can wiggle its way around obstacles. Dubbed worm-bot, the robot is modeled after the Caenorhabditis elegans nematode – a minuscule free-living worm that uses a very simple nervous system of just over 300 neurons to control the… »
Although termites represent one of the peskiest household pests, they could prove to be beneficial for biofuel production. Enzymes in termite guts are instrumental in the insect’s ability to break down the wood they eat, and a group of researchers from Purdue University have applied their knowledge of termites to develop a cocktail of enzymes… »
Stanford researchers have developed a highly sensitive underwater microphone which is modeled after the extraordinarily acute hearing of orcas. The microphone can capture a wide range of ocean sounds in a range of approximately 160 decibels, significantly more than existing underwater microphones (hydrophones) which have limited ranges of sensitivity and do not perform well at… »
Researchers at Delft University of Technology and the University of Basel have created a biomimetic nanopore that provides a unique test and measurement platform for the way that proteins move into a cell’s nucleus. The biomimetic pore is fully functional and able to act selective, thus it can be used as a testing platform for… »
Two researchers at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital have developed a living laser, in which a single cell genetically engineered to express green fluorescent protein (GFP). Before you start thinking about sharks with lasers or other science fiction creatures, this technology is used to amplify photons into nanosecond-long pulses of laser… »
