The structure and functions of many physical networks, including the human brain, the vascular system and other biological networks, often depend on their three-dimensional and geometrical layout. Distinguishing between physical ...
Bioinspired materials are designed and engineered to mimic the biological functions of nature; however fast actuation is an important but challenging task to recreate in the lab. In a recent study, Wenxin Fan and co-workers ...
While many scientific achievements come from long years of careful planning, once in a while researchers stumble onto something completely unexpected. "At the beginning, we were looking to create a particular effect," says ...
Materials Science
Dec 18, 2019
0
679
Just when you thought spiders couldn't get any more terrifying.
Plants & Animals
May 13, 2019
1
376
Researchers have developed the world's tiniest engine - just a few billionths of a metre in size - which uses light to power itself. The nanoscale engine, developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge, could form ...
Nanophysics
May 2, 2016
0
763
It's easy to marvel at the athleticism required to throw a 90-mile-per-hour fastball, but when Neil Roach watches baseball, he sees something else at work – evolution.
Archaeology
Jun 26, 2013
11
3
The quest to harness a broader spectrum of sunlight's energy to produce electricity has taken a radically new turn, with the proposal of a "solar energy funnel" that takes advantage of materials under elastic strain.
Optics & Photonics
Nov 26, 2012
3
3
(Phys.org)—Researchers using computer simulations and modeling have come up with two possible explanations for the phenomenon known as true polar wandering. The team led by Jessica Creveling of Harvard University, suggest ...
A research team led by physicists at the University of California, Riverside has identified a property of "bilayer graphene" (BLG) that the researchers say is analogous to finding the Higgs boson in particle physics.
Nanomaterials
Jan 24, 2012
7
0
Most ants dexterously grasp and snip their food with a pair of chopstick-like mandibles. But trap-jaw ants are also capable of crashing their jaws together at blisteringly fast speeds, striking victims in 0.77 μs. Yet, unleashing ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 22, 2022
1
71
