The motivations for using biology as inspiration to engineering vary based on the project, but for Ling Li, assistant professor of mechanical engineering in the College of Engineering, the combination ...

Scientists have turned to an unusual mentor to learn how to better design the next generation of armor: marine mollusks. While humans have done a pretty good job historically of designing strong armor ...

Chitons are locally common in New Zealand, and several studies have suggested that their valves are resistant to dissolution, so it seems contradictory that they are under-represented in the sediment ...

A research paper titled Biological Organisms as End Effectors explores the oddball approach of giving small animals jobs as grippers at the end of a robotic arm. Researchers show that pill bugs and ...

In the race to make advanced technologies cheaper, cleaner and more efficient, scientists are turning to an unlikely teacher: a small marine mollusk. Researchers at UC Irvine, working with partners in ...

The hard, magnetic teeth of a leathery red-brown mollusk nicknamed “the wandering meatloaf” possess a rare mineral previously seen only in rocks. The mineral may help the mollusk — the giant Pacific ...

The way the scale armor works is that when in contact with a force, the scales converge inward upon one another to form a solid barrier. When not under force, they can 'move' on top of one another to ...