Topic description and stories

Gecko and ant

Why Spider-Man can’t exist: Geckos are ‘size limit’ for sticking to walls

18 Jan 2016

Latest research reveals why geckos are the largest animals able to scale smooth vertical walls – even larger climbers would require unmanageably...

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Left - micro-computed tomography image of a cockroach head showing the driving muscles of the left mandible; right - side view onto the experimental setup

Power up: cockroaches employ a “force boost” to chew through tough materials

11 Nov 2015

New research indicates that cockroaches use a combination of fast and slow twitch muscle fibres to give their mandibles a “force boost” that allows...

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Scanning electron micrograph of the tarsal notch

Close-up film shows for the first time how ants use ‘combs’ and ‘brushes’ to keep their antennae clean

27 Jul 2015

Using unique mechanical experiments and close-up video, Cambridge researchers have shown how ants use microscopic ‘combs’ and ‘brushes’ to keep their...

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A juvenile praying mantis

Baby mantises harness mid-air ‘spin’ during jumps for precision landings

05 Mar 2015

High-speed videos reveal that, unlike other jumping insects, the juvenile praying mantis does not spin out of control when airborne. In fact, it both...

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Image shows C57BL/6 mice, the common strain of laboratory mouse, in a Cambridge animal house. This breed of animal was used in the 'heavy mouse' study.

World's first ‘heavy mouse’ leads to first lab-grown tissue mapped from atomic life

15 May 2014

Molecular ‘fingerprint’ for tissue taken from first isotope-enriched mouse has huge potential for scientific breakthroughs, as well as improved...

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Cog wheels connecting the hind legs of the plant hopper, Issus

Functioning ‘mechanical gears’ seen in nature for the first time

12 Sep 2013

Previously believed to be only man-made, a natural example of a functioning gear mechanism has been discovered in a common insect - showing that...

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collagen

Collagen mechanics: learning from nature

01 Sep 2008

Because of their unique structure, biological tissues exhibit physical and mechanical properties that are unlike anything in the world of engineering...

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