In ancient Greek mythology, Icarus' wax wings melted when he dared to fly too close to the sun. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have made artificial wings that are actually powered by the ...
Materials Science
Feb 19, 2020
0
205
The Lyding Group recently developed a technique that can be used to build carbon-nanotube-based fibers by creating chemical crosslinks. The technique improves the electrical and mechanical properties of these materials.
Nanomaterials
Feb 19, 2020
0
212
Bumblebees are the big lifters of the insect world, able to fly back to the hive with almost their own bodyweight in nectar on board. A study published Feb. 5 in Science Advances shows how they do it—and that bees can show ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 5, 2020
1
371
A new study from Columbia Engineering and Harvard identified the critical physiological importance of suitable temperatures for butterfly wings to function properly, and discovered that the insects exquisitely regulate their ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 28, 2020
0
2619
Bright colors are often considered an evolutionary tradeoff in the animal kingdom. Yes, a male peacock's colorful feathers may help it attract a mate, but they also make it more likely to be seen by a hungry jungle cat. Jewel ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 23, 2020
0
135
A parasitic wasp has shown tremendous potential attacking and controlling spotted wing drosophila—an invasive, destructive fruit fly that costs Oregon growers close to a billion dollars a year, Oregon State University researchers ...
Ecology
Dec 11, 2019
0
99
Thrips are tiny insects 2 millimeters long, about as long as four human hairs are thick. Thrips are known for their unwelcome ability to devour garden plants and, lately, to inform the design of microrobotics.
General Physics
Dec 10, 2019
1
16
When studying how organisms evolve, biologists consider most traits, or features, as derived from some earlier version already present in their ancestors. Few traits are regarded as truly "novel."
Plants & Animals
Nov 21, 2019
3
1024
Sheep and dog bones can be whittled into orthopedic pins that stabilize pigeons' fractured wings, helping the fractures to heal properly without follow-up surgery. Researchers describe the treatment, which is cheaper and ...
Veterinary medicine
Nov 20, 2019
0
3
Walking on Caltech's campus, research engineer Chris Roh (MS '13, Ph.D. '17) happened to see a bee stuck in the water of Millikan Pond. Although it was a common-enough sight, it led Roh and his advisor, Mory Gharib (Ph.D. ...
General Physics
Nov 18, 2019
1
7561
