Biomimicry

We're used to thinking of fakes and forgeries with disdain, but a new innovation from the University of Oxford looks set to buck that trend: fake rhinoceros horn. Rhino populations have been devastated by poaching due to demand for their horn.

This week, roboticists at MIT have demonstrated a new robot with an extending limb that grows a bit like a plant. The appendage can weave its way through confined spaces before lifting a heavy load.

We've watched with interest as subsequent developments have allowed RoboBee to fly, swim, hover, perch and lose its tether. Now it's become the first microrobot to achieve controlled flight using soft artificial muscles.

Although sutures are routinely used to close wounds within the body, they can actually damage fragile biological tissue, causing infections or other complications. Scientists at MIT have developed what could be a better way to go, in the form of a double-sided tape.

We recently heard how scientists from the University of Washington had developed a suction cup inspired by the clingfish. Well, researchers at UC San Diego have taken a different approach to create one of their own, and they've even used it on an underwater robot.

Hazardous places such as burning buildings can be dangerous to explore, which is why scientists are increasingly looking at using swarms of tiny drones to do the job. A bioinspired navigation system could help make such life-saving swarms a reality.

It's not uncommon for us humans to communicate via pokes and other skin-on-skin gestures. Could the same thing work for communicating with devices? It turns out that if you give those gadgets a coating of "Skin-On" artificial skin, the answer is Yes.

Scientists have developed a clingfish-inspired suction cup, that outperforms the actual fish itself.

Automotive design legend Frank Stephenson speaks about biomimicry and the Lilium project in part two of our interview.

American scientists have created a "Tunabot," that they claim can match the swimming speed of an actual tuna.

Scientists have copied the porcupinefish's spines to create a water-repellent material that's more robust than previous efforts.

Inspired by remora fish, researchers at NJIT have designed a new suction cup that’s far more adhesive than the real thing.