Soft robotics are inspired by animals which don't have hard internal skeletons, like squid, worms, and starfish. Developed at Harvard, with funding from DARPA,
this particular soft robot, "not only walks, it knows several different gaits and can deflate to stuff itself through tiny little gaps."
Another design here,
and another (
also),
and another. In addition to movement, soft robotics can also be used
for grip. More information about the Harvard lab is available
here (
with a student describing the research here).
posted by codacorolla
on Nov 29, 2011 -
26 comments
"From the deck of a cruise ship along the coast of Brazil, a retiree named Bob Hulse snapped some high-resolution photographs of something unusual leaping from the sea: what appears to be dozens of squid propelling themselves through the air -- quite possibly the first time the impressive display has been caught
on film."
posted by nomadicink
on Nov 23, 2010 -
55 comments
Blush. A squid flash game. Kind of like
flow but less abstract/meditative, more shiny & fast paced.
posted by juv3nal
on Mar 2, 2009 -
23 comments
The SERPENT project Collaborating closely with key players in the oil and gas industry, the SERPENT project aims to make cutting-edge industrial
ROV technology and data more accessible to the world's science community, share knowledge and progress deep-sea research.
Galleries, video of rare
elbowed squid.
posted by dhruva
on Nov 24, 2008 -
5 comments
'Punk' Catfish Among New Species Found in Venezuela : Scientists studying an unspoiled jungle river wilderness in Venezuela on Thursday announced the discovery of 10 new fish species, including a red-tailed tiddler, a "punk" catfish with a spiky head and a piranha that eats fruit as well as flesh, says
The Associated Press.
A little more
Here.
Other new species found recently include
Baffling 'Mystery Apes' [
More on them], some
gross, weird things, and even some
Odd Critters that thrive without oxygen, growing in salty, alkaline conditions, and may offer insights into what kinds of life might survive on Mars. But it's not just little critters,
Pseudoryx nghetinhensis was the first of the new mammal species discovered in quite some time, and even
A New giant squid.
Like this stuff?
A New Theory says many of the ecological patterns we see can be more simply and often better explained if competing species are treated as if they were essentially identical.
posted by Blake
on Aug 29, 2003 -
11 comments
'A colossal squid has been caught in Antarctic waters, the first example of Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni retrieved virtually intact from the surface of the ocean. ' Related (old news from January) :-
giant squid attacks boat.
More squid sites :-
Search for Giant Squid,
a Smithsonian exhibit about a 1999 expedition. 'Whether living or extinct, on land or at sea, in literature or in life, large animals have long fascinated people. The largest animals have been known and hunted since prehistory: whales, walruses, elephants, rhinos, hippos, giraffes, and large fishes... However, one large animal has gone almost unnoticed or certainly unobserved in its habitat. That animal is the giant squid. Although these animals have been found in the nets of commercial fishermen, in the stomachs of sperm whales, and washed ashore on different continents, no scientific information has been gathered by direct observations of live giant squid ... '
The UnMuseum's article on the giant squid.
posted by plep
on Apr 3, 2003 -
23 comments
Bizarre new species of deep sea squid - Yes, you may have read about it earlier, but this link is a photo of one of the
strangest new species to be discovered in a long time. Seventeen feet of weirdness 10,000 feet below the surface. It's cool that we can still find new alien life forms without yet venturing into space.
posted by kokogiak
on Dec 20, 2001 -
34 comments
