bioinspired design, Tag

Dung beetles eat poo. It’s what they do, and they do it many different ways. Rollers tumble it home in little balls; they cradle their eggs in it or save it for a snack. Tunnelers bury it right where they find it, and...

It's frightening to think, but one of every six people in the world today don't have enough safe water to drink. Within 30 years, thirst will spread to three-quarters of the world’s population. But surely this clever ape...

With a comically tiny mouth and a blunt cauliflower tail, the ocean sunfish is little more than a swimming head. Which is, in fact, its name in German. Grotesquely oversized, these monsters appear to loll helplessly on the...

Humpback whale image from Shutterstock Whales are some of the most extreme creatures on Earth. The 115 foot, 150 foot ton Blue Whale, for instance, is the largest animal that ever lived. These magnificent creatures are social...

Image © Mark Roy One of Australia's more bizarre creatures is the thorny devil or dragon, also known as the moloch. The devil is named for the ancient god Moloch, a hideous demon smeared with the blood of child sacrifice,...

Charles Darwin was a man inordinately fond of beetles. He once caught a rare specimen in one hand, when another, even more remarkable, beetle showed up. He snatched that one up with his other hand. Suddenly, an extraordinary...

You know bats and dolphins 'echolocate' to find their prey, sending out blips of squeaky SONAR-like sound waves that bounce off fish or moths in the dark...

In our newest series, The Biomimicry Manual, we are thinking about design in a different way and asking ourselves "How would nature do it?". Nature's designs are tried and true, and there are a number of creatures on this...

Image © paulhypnos This colorful toad may be as tiny as a quarter, but he has got some big tricks up his sleeve. The Crucifix Toad, also known as the Holy Cross Frog, (Notaden bennettii), like all tadpoles, needs water....