Nature endows numerous organisms with the ability to realize their basic physiological
activities through stimulus-responsive actuation. Inspired by these interesting biological …

Jellyfish have provided insight into important components of animal propulsion, such as
suction thrust, passive energy recapture, vortex wall effects, and the rotational mechanics of …

The functionalities of the untethered miniature swimming robots significantly decrease as the
robot size becomes smaller, due to limitations of feasible miniaturized on-board …

Reverse engineering of biological form and function requires hierarchical design over
several orders of space and time. Recent advances in the mechanistic understanding of …

The Scallop theorem states that reciprocal methods of locomotion, such as jet propulsion or
paddling, will not work in Stokes flow (Reynolds number= 0). In nature the effective limit of jet …

A micro-scale flying insect has a unique wing configuration consisting of a central frame and
several bristles. For the low-Reynolds-number regime in which the insect lives, the bristled …

Unlike the smooth wings of common insects or birds, micro-scale insects such as the fairyfly
have a distinctive wing geometry, comprising a frame with several bristles. Motivated by this …

In contrast to common continuous wings, microscopic flying insects such as fairyfly and
thrips possess extraordinary wings that comprise several bristles. In the low-Reynolds …

Mechanical properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM) play a key role in tissue organization
and morphogenesis. Rheological properties of jellyfish ECM (mesoglea) were measured in …

Some microscopic flying insects have evolved bristled wings. In the low-Reynolds-number
regime they reside in, these porous wings perform like membranous wings because the …