Science Daily April 9, 2019 African Elephantnose fish use two different types of electro-receptors for active electrolocation. One only measures the intensity of the signal, the other the waveform of the pulse. Researchers in Germany showed that the fish uses the ratio of the two readings to identify its prey. This creates “electric colors” analogous to visual colors perceived by the human eye, but through electrical signals instead of visible light. They introduced an image cue, called the ‘electric outline’, which provided information resembling a target’s optical contour. The results indicate that bio-inspired electric imaging principles provide promising cues for […]
Tag Archives: Biomimetics
‘Biological bandage’ could help heal wounds
Nanowerk March 28, 2019 Fibrinogen is a blood protein which through self-organization process turns dissolved proteins into ultrafine fibers that then combine to form tissue. Researchers in Germany introduced a novel biofabrication technique to prepare three-dimensional, nanofibrous fibrinogen scaffolds by salt-induced self-assembly. They were able to fabricate either free-standing or immobilized fibrinogen scaffolds on demand by tailoring the underlying substrate material and adding a fixation and washing procedure after the fiber assembly. Thickness can be adjusted by altering the salt concentration. The possibility to choose between free-standing and immobilized scaffolds makes the process attractive for the preparation of versatile tissue […]
NUS researchers create water-resistant electronic skin with self-healing abilities
Eurekalert March 18, 2019 An international team of researchers (China Singapore) has developed a material inspired by jellyfish. It is composed of a fluorocarbon elastomer and a fluorine-rich ionic liquid, has an ionic conductivity that can be tuned to as high as 10−3 S cm−1 and can withstand strains as high as 2,000%. Owing to ion–dipole interactions, it offers fast and repeatable electro-mechanical self-healing in wet, acidic and alkali environments. It can be printed into soft and pliable ionic circuit boards and touch, pressure and strain sensors. The material has applications in aquatic soft robots and water-resistant human–machine interfaces…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
One device, many frequencies: Researchers create a unique, tiny resonator
Science Daily March 5, 2019 A typical resonator in an electronic device responds to one signal with one corresponding frequency. An international team of researchers (USA – Argonne National Laboratory, Michigan State University, Florida Institute of Technology, Israel, Sweden) has developed and demonstrated a nonlinear micromechanical resonator which vibrates with a spectrum consisting of multiple frequencies evenly spaced due to the nonlinear mode coupling, in spite of the fact that it is driven by a single frequency. The novel behavior results from a saddle node on an invariant circle (SNIC) bifurcation. The resonator is an ideal test bed to study […]
Material that shields beetle from being burned by its own weapons, holds promise
Science Daily February 25, 2019 The pygidial glands in Carabid beetles manufacture, store and propel toxic chemicals to ward off insect, amphibian and even small mammalian predators. A team of researchers in the US (Pennsylvania State University, University of New Hampshire) found that the tissues in the glandular system transporting the defensive chemicals to be rich in soft, rubbery resilin, a compound found in many insects and other arthropods. Resilin is a compound that is likely to be used in future bioengineering and biomedical applications due to its unusual properties. It has many similarities with elastin, a protein found in […]
The first walking robot that moves without GPS
Science Daily February 13, 2019 To navigate safely in hostile environment, desert ants assess their direction from the polarized pattern of skylight and judge the distance traveled based on both a stride-counting method and the optic flow. Using this concept a team of researchers in France has designed AntBot equipped with an optical compass used to determine its direction by means of polarized light, and by an optical movement sensor directed to the sun to measure the distance covered. Armed with this information, AntBot was able to explore its environment and to return on its own to its base, with […]
Hydrophobic or hydrophilic? Aero-gallium nitride is both
Physics World February 6, 2019 Biological cell membranes are made up of phospholipid building blocks that both attract and repel water. An international team of researchers (Germany, Moldova, Australia, Italy, UK) developed a nanomaterial exhibiting hydrophobic and hydrophilic properties using nanoscopically thin membranes of gallium nitride shaped as hollow microtetrapods, called aerogalnite (AGaN). The material is extremely porous, mechanically flexible, stretchable, and exhibits hydrophilicity under tension and hydrophobicity when compressed against water. Self-assembling the AGaN tetrapods on water enabled them to develop self-healing waterproof rafts carrying liquid droplets 500-times as heavy as rafts, and to demonstrate self-propelled liquid marbles. Aerogalnite […]
Lotus leaf inspires scientists to create world’s first self-cleaning metals
Nanowerk January 7, 2019 Taking their ideas from defense mechanisms found in plants such as the lotus leaf an international team of researchers (Italy, France, Germany, Spain, UK) has developed the first fluid-repellent, antibacterial, metal surface. Using high-power laser cutting devices they created microscopic ‘spikes’ and ‘ridges’ in sheet metal, causing liquids to ‘bounce off’ the rough micro-topography that mimics the surface of the lotus leaf. The process is useful for medical cutting tools, sterile surfaces, dishwashers, or even saucepans…read more.
Nanofiber carpet could lead to new sticky or insulating surfaces
Phys.org November 14, 2018 A team of researchers in the US (University of Michigan. University of Wisconsin, Cornell University) has shown that chemical vapor polymerization can be performed on surfaces coated with thin films of liquid crystals to synthesize organized assemblies of end-attached polymer nanofibers. Their process uses low concentrations of radical monomers formed initially in the vapor phase and then diffused into the liquid-crystal template. This minimizes monomer-induced changes to the liquid-crystal phase and enables access to nanofiber arrays with complex yet precisely defined structures and compositions and permits tailoring of a wide range of functional properties – coatings […]
New composite material that can cool itself down under extreme temperatures
Science Daily October 26, 2018 Researchers in the UK used a network of multiple microchannels with active flowing fluids as a method and proof of concept to develop a thermally-functional material made of a synthetic polymer. Through modulating volumetric flow rates, they manipulated fluid-material interface for heat transport within a microfluidic platform. The material is enhanced with precise control measures that can switch conductive states to manage its own temperature in relationship to its environment. The research will result in an advanced material that can absorb high solar radiation, as the human body can do, to cool itself autonomously whatever […]