February 18, 2014

Quest for Jellyfish Robot Leads to Discovery of Common Bending Rules for Wings, Fins, and other Natural Propulsors



A Navy-sponsored project to design a biologically inspired, swimming jellyfish robot has led scientists to the surprising discovery of common bending rules for the tips of wings, fins, flukes, mollusk feet, and other propulsors across a broad range of animal species.
The study, led by John H. Costello of Providence College and the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, where he is a visiting scientist, is published this week in Nature Communications.