Biomimicry

Two years ago, scientists at the University of Bristol discovered that some moths evade bats via sound-absorbing scales on their body. New research now suggests that wallpaper inspired by those scales could be used to block out unwanted noises.

We've been hearing a lot about synthetic skins made for robotic hands, which would give the devices human-like qualities. Scientists in Japan have gone a step further, by covering a robotic finger in a self-healing skin made from live human cells.

By copying nature, we can develop technologies capable of performing previously impossible functions. A new contest encourages that kind of thinking, by inviting ideas for nature-inspired robots … and the winning entry will be made into a robot.

While we have heard of a few aerial drones that are also able to operate underwater, a new one takes that concept considerably further. Using a fish-inspired suction disc, it can hitch rides underwater – possibly even on submarines – to save power.

Scientists regularly turn to nature for inspiration in their pursuit of next-generation materials, and engineers studying the porous microstructures of bone and wood have come up with a clever example of biomimicry with wide-ranging potential.

While scientists have already created tight-space-exploring robots based on snakes and cockroaches, rats are also highly adept at squeezing through narrow openings. They now have a robotic equivalent of their own, in the form of the SQuRo.

The color-changing skin of the squid has inspired a new type of infrared-reflecting, metalized polymer film with tunable heat-management properties that could make it useful in everything from coffee cups to shipping containers.

Imagining a future where hundreds of sensors are placed around forests or farms for large-scale monitoring of the environment, scientists have developed platforms light enough to disperse like dandelion seeds in the breeze when dropped from a drone.

Scientists at Northeastern University have put an interesting new solution forward in the realm of UV monitoring – one that came about through a serendipitous discovery concerning the color-changing ways of camouflaging squid.

Zero-emissions airliners are still a long way off, but Lufthansa and BASF have developed a way to improve things right now. AeroShark is an adhesive riblet film that immediately reduces fuel consumption, and therefore emissions, from any aircraft.

When it comes to robotic hands, there are ones that can grasp tough items firmly, and ones that can grasp delicate items lightly. The experimental new gecko-inspired farmHand, however, is capable of doing both.

It's possible that someday in the future, sunlight-powered robots may be able to swim across marine oil spills, soaking up the oil as they go. A tiny prototype has already been created, and it was inspired by both the steam engine and an insect.