Aerospace

How nature is transforming aerospace engineering — 24 biomimicry examples with real-world products and research. Bird …

Cortical bone achieves a remarkable combination of stiffness and toughness through a hierarchical — the biology behind …

Dragonflies have four independently controlled wings, each with a corrugated cross-section — the biology behind micro …

Honeybees build honeycomb from beeswax using hexagonal cells packed together — the biology behind honeycomb structural …

The shell is divided into gas-filled chambers connected by a siphuncle tube — the biology behind deep-sea pressure …

The trunk contains ~150,000 muscle fascicles and no rigid skeleton — achieving six degrees of freedom — the biology …

A boxy reef fish turned out to be remarkably aerodynamic. Mercedes-Benz built a concept car on its shape and cut drag by …

In 1941 George de Mestral studied the burs stuck to his dog and found hundreds of tiny hooks. That walk produced Velcro …

The kingfisher dives from air into water — two media with very different densities — the biology behind the Shinkansen …

The flying squirrel glides up to 90 meters by extending a skin membrane (patagium) between — the biology behind membrane …

This deep-sea sponge builds a cylindrical cage of glass (silica spicules) that withstands — the biology behind …

Despite weighing around 30 tonnes (up to 36 tonnes for large adults), humpback whales are remarkably agile — the biology …

Bat wings are built from a thin, highly elastic membrane stretched over elongated finger bones — the biology behind …

The giant Amazonian lily pad can support the weight of a small child (up to 40 kg) on its surface — the biology behind …

The mantis shrimp punches at 23 m/s and over 10,000 g, thousands of times, without cracking its club. Its helicoidal …

The asymmetric single-winged seed (samara) autorotates as it falls — the biology behind single-wing micro air vehicles.

The peregrine falcon is the fastest animal on Earth, diving at over 320 km/h — the biology behind jet engine air …

The pitcher plant traps insects using a slippery rim (peristome) that becomes nearly frictionless when wet — the biology …

Hovers in place with precision by beating asymmetric figure-eight wingstrokes at 50-80 Hz — the biology behind hovering …

The saguaro's pleated, accordion-like trunk expands to store up to 750 liters of water after rain — the biology behind …

Tiny tooth-like scales called denticles cover the shark's skin in a precise pattern that disrupts the boundary — the …

Uses its oversized hollow bill — a foam-filled composite of keratin tiles over a closed-cell bone — the biology behind …

Millions of microscopic hair-like structures called setae on the gecko's toe pads create van der Waals forces — the …

The Venus flytrap snaps shut in 100 milliseconds — one of the fastest movements in the plant kingdom — the biology …

Woodpeckers strike 20 times a second at 1,200 g without brain damage. Four nested structures make it possible — and now …