The uncanny stickiness of mussels has inspired a brainy new approach to creating a universal adhesive coating, researchers say.
Mussels secrete a complex cocktail of proteins to latch on to just about any surface, explained study co-author Phillip Messersmith, a biomedical engineer at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
The toe pads of tree frogs and crickets have inspired a new supersticky—yet reusable—adhesive, scientists report.
The material is the latest example of a boom in adhesives that take their cues from nature’s greatest clingers: frogs, lizards, and insects.
Give your tape some real “mussel”!
So might go the ad campaign for “geckel”—a next-generation adhesive inspired by the legendary stickiness of geckos and mollusks—if the product is successfully brought to market.
Rapid improvements to the efficiency and power of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) will soon allow the decades-old technology to revolutionize how we illuminate our world, according to an industry expert.
Along the Atlantic coast from New Jersey to Georgia, thousands of fish are crammed into subway cars—but they’re going nowhere fast, and recreational fishers couldn’t be happier.
The subway cars, along with armored tanks, naval ships, tugboats, and a large amount of concrete culverts, were strategically dumped in the ocean to serve as artificial reefs.
Animals’ natural defenses are providing inspiration for researchers developing the next generation of lighter, tougher body armor.
Benjamin Bruet, a graduate student in engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, is part of a team funded by the U.S. military to create new materials to protect soldiers in the field.
A backpack that generates its own electricity may soon allow rescue workers, explorers, and soldiers to power their equipment while on the go, a team of scientists reported today.
The backpack will derive its power from the motion of the person carrying it.
The invention, known as the suspended-load backpack, frees handheld computers, cell phones, and dozens of other devices from the constraints of limited battery life and the reach of the power grid.