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… »
Inspired by geckos, a team of engineers has developed a reversible adhesion method for printing electronics on a variety of tricky surfaces such as clothes, plastic and leather. Researchers from Northwestern University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign designed a square polymer stamp that allows them to vary its adhesion strength. The stamp can… »
Floods cut down more bridges than fire, wind, earthquakes, deterioration, overloads and collisions combined, costing lives and hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. The speed and turbulence of an overflowing stream scours away the river bottom that provides the support for a bridge foundation. In order to counter that, researchers at the Case Western… »
Gecko’s foot ability to stick to many surfaces, including glass, has been inspiring scientists to mimic that ability in other to make dry adhesive materials and robots able to walk up various materials. A group of scientists from Stanford University are developing such a robot which is fittingly named Stickybot. They are already working on… »
Natural silk, fibers made by spiders and silkworms, is a material that is tougher than kevlar or steel, yet remarkably flexible. In recent years, researchers have worked to gain a better understanding of what silk is and how it’s made, with the goal of being able to consistently replicate and enhance its production synthetically. Aside… »
The capabilities and behavior of bees have inspired scientists in various fields as swarm movement and cooperation. Neurobiologists from Bielefeld University, Germany, have been researching the computational mechanisms that allow the nervous system to extract behaviorally relevant information from the retinal input and to use this information in behavioral control. In their previous research, the… »
Weird movements in the abdomens of freely crawling caterpillars are making headlines in the fields of biology and engineering. The findings from a multidisciplinary team of researchers, including Jake Socha, Virginia Tech assistant professor of engineering science and mechanics, Michael Simon of Tufts University’s Department of Biology, and Barry Trimmer, professor of biology at Tufts,… »
We already wrote several articles regarding swarm robotics because it is offering innovative solutions to real-world problems by creating a new form of artificial intelligence based biomimicry of insect-like instincts. Mirko Kovac, from EPFL’s Laboratory of Intelligent Systems, is a robotics engineer who has already made leaps forward in the field with his grasshopper-inspired jumping… »
