Biomimicry

Human-woven "beaver dams" do more than store water. They help waterways recover from climate alteration, lower water temperatures, enhance flood plain connections prevent wildfire spread, and generate increased biodiversity.

From water-skipping robots to elephant-skin inspired cooling materials, engineers have continued to find inspiration in nature in order to move technology forward for humans. And it's set to take center-stage in the new age of robotics.

The new “stingraybot” from a team at ETH Zurich (the Federal Institute of Technology of Switzerland) offers enormous promise for surgery, medical care, wildlife biology, robotics, and more, thanks to muscular membranes of microbubbles.

Georgia Tech takes vision for soft robots to the next level with PHySL, a biomimetic photo-responsive hydrogel soft lens that focuses using light alone. It does away with electronics, wires, bulk, and the dangers of breaking.

An experimental robotic gripper from Switzerland’s École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) utilizes a pair of lobster tails as twin fingers. Because it uses actual animal tissue, this “hand” isn’t bio-mimicked. It’s bio-derived.

The water leaving your washing machine may soon be a lot more eco-friendly, thanks to the anchovy. A filter inspired by the tiny fish could remove microplastics from the outgoing water, keeping them from entering local waterways.

A human-metabolism-inspired biofuel cell uses glucose and riboflavin to deliver 20 times more energy than similar previous tech. Made from cheap, eco-friendly substances, it offers energy storage for a world craving electrification.

Blurring the line between biology and robotics, Chinese scientists are taking biomimicry to new depths with a small, low-energy bionic jellyfish that's so lifelike in form and movement it’s almost indistinguishable from the real thing.

Despite the fact that they bang their heads against trees on a daily basis, woodpeckers don't suffer brain injuries. Inspired by the tough-headed birds, scientists have developed a fixed-wing drone that can survive frontal collisions.

In contrast to other underwater jet packs, the Kikfin Shark has a full set of fins to bio-mimic fast, nimble sea creatures for superior movement and agility. It's as close to morphing into an actual man-shark as the current state of science allows.

Although we've seen many robotic water striders over the years, scientists are still finding new aspects of the insects to replicate. Recently, for instance, researchers created a strider-bot that zips across the water's surface via fans on its feet.

For some time now, we've been hearing about "bistable" devices that can remain in either of two states without expending any energy. A new one, inspired by plant seed pods, takes the form of a robotic gripper which is strong yet easily activated.