Across the tree of life–from fungi to frogs–organisms wield small amounts of energy to
generate fast and potent movements. These movements are propelled with elastic …

Inspired by the three postures of a click beetle, a novel passive click-beetle-inspired
structure (CBIS) with variable asymmetric stiffness characteristics is proposed and …

Millions of years of evolution have allowed animals to develop unusual locomotion
capabilities. A striking example is the legless-jumping of click beetles and trap-jaw ants …

Soft robots controlled by different actuation schemes are flourishing owing to the continued
development of smart materials. However, most of the existing actuators are powered by a …

Biology is a wellspring of inspiration in engineering design. This paper delves into the
application of elastic instabilities—commonly used in biological systems to facilitate swift …

Species' thermal tolerances are used to estimate climate vulnerability, but few studies
consider the role of the hydric environment in shaping thermal tolerances. As environments …

Ultrafast movements propelled by springs and released by latches are thought limited to
energetic adjustments prior to movement, and seemingly cannot adjust once movement …

The smallest, fastest, repeated-use movements are propelled by power-dense elastic
mechanisms, yet the key to their energetic control may be found in the latch-like …

Small organisms use propulsive springs rather than muscles to repeatedly actuate high
acceleration movements, even when constrained to tiny displacements and limited by …

X-ray imaging enables the study of morphodynamic and physiological processes in living
organisms. However, the required photon flux increases with the desired spatial resolution …