Three Cheers for Biomimicry!

What, pray tell, is Biomimicry? Well, it's this cool thing scientists, engineers, and even architects are doing. They study things found in nature, and try to use them to design new technologies. Here are some well-known examples straight from Science Daily:

Velcro was inspired by cockleburs, which cling tenaciously to clothing and animal fur. This poor guy probably had to have his head shaved.

Both Leonardo da Vinci and the Wright brothers studied the flight of birds when designing their flying machines.

Sonar was inspired by how whales, dolphins and bats emit high-pitched sounds and analyze the returning echoes to help them navigate.

And now, apparently, scientists are creating robots that mimic cockroaches to traverse deep sand and mud, while others mimic spider crabs and will be able to walk gingerly across loose surfaces like sand and gravel. This is the sort of research that is helping our Curiosity rover wander Mars and collect data for us. It may be the kind of research that will one day help our future vehicles travel the planet without the need for a concrete jungle to drive and park on. We could walk/ride across the miles without the need to pave it. This I like. Though, perhaps the idea of more cockroaches, even if they are robotic...not so much. Make the jump to Science Daily and watch the cool video on this project. 

Curiosity Coolness

The Curiosity on the Surface of Mars. Image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltach/University of Arizona

I'm sure you must know by now that the Curiosity has safely landed on Mars and NASA's Mars Science Lab is now up and running. So far, it's been a bit slow going while the massive crew of scientists run their tests and make sure Curiosity is fully functional. But, a few fantastic images have already started rolling in. This latest image above is a high resolution view of the curiosity on the surface of Mars. That tiny blue dot. And you can make out the blast pattern surrounding it, made from the landing of the rover. I have to tell you, this stuff gets me all excited. I'm literally squeeing over here when I go to NASA's mission sight and find these cool images. I thought I'd share a couple. Below is one of the first high res images taken by Curiosity of it's view on the surface of Mars. Look at those mountains. Wow! How amazing are we that there are people who can build this stuff and go off exploring other planets with it? Thanks to all you tech savvy computer geeky scientist types who work on this project. You are the coolest!

Curiosity's View of Mars. Image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltach

This is the kind of stuff that has inspired me to write Science Fiction since I was a kid. I mean, I used to pretend to be sick so I could stay home and watch the Space Shuttle's launch and I would sit and make up stories about what would happen while they were out in space. Sorry for lying to you, Mom. As I've grown older, my stories tend to focus more on humans and what humans might become if they could only tap into more of their brain power. You can actually read one of those stories online over at The Ravens Crossing, a science fiction project I am writing for with two other authors, Andi Lea and West Thornhill. Anyway, this is the kind of thing that sparks my imagination. Who knows what they might discover next. But, it sure is fun to dream about what that might be.