Researchers: Because of silk’s nanoscale size and the complex web architecture, little is known about the architecture and mechanics of three-dimensional (3D) spider webs during construction. This work comprehensively investigates the structure, mechanics, and functionality of a 3D spider web under construction, using consistent imaging and computational simulations methods.
Biomimicry
Jellyfish enhance their skills by building a virtual wall
Either jellyfish are smarter than we think or there is design in nature. Researchers: “The fact that these simple animals have figured out how to achieve a ‘ground effect’ type boost in open water, away from any solid surfaces, has the potential to open up a range of new possibilities for engineered vehicles to take advantage of this phenomenon,” Gemmell said.
Insects were mimicking lichens 165 million years ago
Whoever wrote the media release was very, very light on the Darwinblather. Mind you, claiming that it all happened via endless iterations of natural selection acting on random mutations wears a bit thin when the time Darwinians thought they had has been sharply reduced.
More Salt in the Peppered Moth’s Wounds
The entire history of Kettlewell’s Peppered Moth experiment is littered with problems: doctored photographs, wrong assumptions and slim evidence, followed by genetic analysis revealing that the protein exons coding for color were not changed, but, rather, a transposon (non-random) was inserted in an intron (“junk DNA”). And now there’s this paper. It seems that the Read More…
Octopuses even have “smart” skin
So much complex, specified information and we are to believe it all just sort of happened via natural selection acting on random mutation (Darwinism)? Interestingly, this particular item doesn’t even make that claim. Maybe just too ridiculous.
Cats played a unique role in the space program
Back in the 1960s, space scientists needed to know if it is true that a cat always lands on its feet: NASA contributed funding to the paper “A Dynamical Explanation of the Falling Cat Phenomenon,” published in the International Journal of Solids and Structures, by Stanford’s T.R. Kane and M.P. Scher. What was so significant Read More…
Suzan Mazur asks: How far have we gotten in understanding the mechanome?
The mechanome is the underresearched “ the set of proteins or molecular entities that sense or respond to forces” within the cell (Allen Liu). Our earlier stab at the subject here at UD garnered 354 comments, so there’s no shortage of interest. The mechanome (and mechanobiology in general) plays a key role in research into artificial Read More…
Fri Nite Frite: The electric eel’s biggest shock: Sophisticated use of electricity
Not just to zap prey, apparently. From Ed Yong at the Atlantic: It’s a remote control. It’s a tracking device. It can deliver shocks of up to 600 volts. But then you did want to stay awake, didn’t you? You think the electric eel is shocking? You haven’t seen anything yet. In this episode of Read More…
Nobel award for design of molecular machines
“three laureates discovered how to use molecules as components of tiny machines that can be controlled to perform specific tasks.”
Biomimetics: Termites had complex gut reactors 30 million years ago
Who knows, maybe we’ll end up farming termite colonies to work for us instead of just hiring pest control specialists to kill them.
Discovery: Partially metal-plated syringe used by insect
First ever confirmed.
Eyes have it all: Unique solution to vision problem
Life form’s amazing eyes “must be” self-organized, can’t be engineered from top down, we are assured
Astonishing bioluminescent animals seen during 2-hour underwater descent
The octopuses’ disappearing act is remarkable too.
Mechanical gear found in living organism — Behe’s IC still a challenge for Darwinism
First gear discovered With two diminutive legs locked into a leap-ready position, the tiny jumper bends its body taut like an archer drawing a bow. At the top of its legs, a minuscule pair of gears engage—their strange, shark-fin teeth interlocking cleanly like a zipper. And then, faster than you can blink, think, or see Read More…
Can DNA built structures evidence intelligence?
How do we distinguish systems formed by natural laws, from stochastic processes, and from systems designed by intelligent agents? See Demski’s Explanatory Filter at ARN and at the IDEA Center. Now at Harvard’s Molecular Systems Lab, Peng Yin is currently focused on engineering programmable molecular systems that are inspired by biology, such as the information-directed, self-assembly Read More…