Biomimicry

Butterfly wings boast a superpower known as anisotropy, which increases a structure’s ability to absorb energy and resist impact through controlled deformation. It could massively benefit architectural innovation through light, durable design.

RAnts – ant-like robots – demonstrate exbodied intelligence to construct or dismantle simple structures. Instead of using pheromones to signal each other where to gather and work, they drop illuminated markers called photormones.

Replicating brain-scale processing may require thousands of NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs. At 700 watts each, that would take megawatts. The brain runs on 20 watts. This organ has inspired scientists to create chips that cut energy use by 70%.

An aquarium can really add a touch of class to a home, particularly if it's got some nice fish in it – but such fish can be hard to keep. So, why not just buy a weirdly lifelike "robofish" like this one, that needs nothing more than a battery-charge?

Lampreys can stick to speeding sharks, so you'd think they could teach us a thing or two about suction. It turns out that they can indeed, as scientists have developed a lamprey-inspired suction cup that can lift over 800 times its own weight.

When it comes to systems for cleaning up marine oil spills, most of them simply float in place, waiting for the oil to come to them. A new robot, however, could proactively move through oil slicks – and it's inspired by both a dolphin and a sea urchin.

If someone asked you to move like a robot and you responded with the fluid art of ballet, your audience would be baffled, yet technically, you would be right. Robots are famous for their characteristic rigid movement, which is useful in some applications but can hinder adaptability. Now, researchers have developed a robotic wing that moves like no other.

Li-ion batteries need complex cooling systems. Yet, the human body, which generates enough heat to boil over 100 cups of tea daily, is literally just chillin’. The secret? Our skin’s ability to sweat. Scientists may have given batteries this ability.

Many readers will remember the MetaFly, a remote-control robotic insect that flies by actually flapping its wings. Well, its inventor is back with a much more capable robotic swift (you know, the bird), which is currently on Kickstarter.

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.