One species of eel can discharge 860 volts of electricity – that’s 200-fold higher than the top voltage of a single lithium-ion battery.
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Articles on Biomimicry
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New breakwater designs and more sustainable materials can cut the carbon cost of coastal defences by 40%.
Artificial brains are far in the future, but computer chips that work like brains could keep computers advancing when today’s silicon transistor chips reach their limit.
Inspired by the aerobatic manoeuvres of the swift, a new “flapping wing” aircraft can hover, glide and dive much better than quadcopter-style drones.
Studying bird evolution has led to engineering innovations, including drones that can fly sideways and backwards, and silent wind turbines.
Artificial intelligence research owes a lot to biology and chemistry.
Soft robotics could help move us closer to more human-like robots.
From kingfishers to dandelion seeds and bone tissue, natural organisms are the source of many radical human innovations in technology and medicine.
Bio-inspiration takes cues from natural structures that do certain things very effectively. One example: the strong but flexible fibers that sea sponges use to anchor themselves to the ocean floor.
The best prosthetics feel more like the real thing.
Cleanliness is next to godliness. Did you know hairiness is a part of the equation as well?
They’re the soil-builders that allow Africa’s arid savannas to be lush grasslands. What do they do inside their huge mounds – and how does a collective mind allow them to do it?
A simple experiment with plastic straws, Lego bricks and a hair dryer is the basis for a future surgeon’s sensitive tools.
Imagine a sky full of autonomous flying machines delivering anything from fast-food to important documents, medical supplies or just a surprise gift for someone special. How do you stop them all colliding…
Last week, David Taylor of Trinity College Dublin argued that simply copying nature is no way to succeed at inventing. His main point is valid – there are indeed not many chances for engineers to make…
Where do inventions come from? There’s no magic formula, but there are ways to improve your creativity. One method is to look at nature. Some call this activity bionics, others call it biomimetics. Whatever…
The lyrebird is considered one of Australia’s best-known birds — you might recognise them from our 10 cent coin — but do we really know them? Famed for their spectacular courtship display, you may have…
You must have heard that spider silk is stronger than steel. We all want to believe that there are wonder materials in nature that are far superior to human-made ones. But the problem with statements that…
We humans have long looked to ants as models for our own societies, from Jean de La Fontaine’s tale of the grasshopper and the ant to modern uses of ant algorithms to solve computational and logistics…
Top contributors
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Reader in Bioengineering, University of Cambridge
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Associate Professor of Evolutionary Ecology, Monash University
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Research Fellow, University of Sydney
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Professor of Visual Neuroscience and Robotics, The University of Queensland
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Professor, Trinity College Dublin
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Postdoctoral research fellow, The University of Queensland
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Professor of Environmental and Forest Biology, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry
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Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Biology, Adjunct Associate Professor of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology
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Assistant Professor in the Experimental Zoology, Wageningen University
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Lecturer in mechatronics, University of Cambridge
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Assistant Professor of Integrative Biology & Computer Science and Engineering, Michigan State University
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Timothy J. Jorgensen is a Friend of The Conversation.
Director of the Health Physics and Radiation Protection Graduate Program and Professor of Radiation Medicine, Georgetown University
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Assistant Lecturer, University of Central Lancashire
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Professor of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta
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PhD Student in Solid Mechanics, Brown University
