The motivations for using biology as inspiration to engineering vary based on the project, but for Ling Li, assistant professor of mechanical engineering in the College of Engineering, the combination ...

A rare iron mineral has been discovered in the teeth of a living organism for the first time – one that bears the pet name “wandering meatloaf.” While it sounds like a tour update for the musician ...

Scientists have turned to an unusual mentor to learn how to better design the next generation of armor: marine mollusks. While humans have done a pretty good job historically of designing strong armor ...

Researchers discovered a rare mineral hidden inside the teeth of a chiton, a large mollusk found along rocky coastlines. Before this strange surprise, the iron mineral, called santabarbaraite, only ...

A research paper titled Biological Organisms as End Effectors explores the oddball approach of giving small animals jobs as grippers at the end of a robotic arm. Researchers show that pill bugs and ...

The way the scale armor works is that when in contact with a force, the scales converge inward upon one another to form a solid barrier. When not under force, they can 'move' on top of one another to ...