August 08, 2003
walking on water

we are learning how to climb walls from geckos, locomotion from bugs, and infrared vision from snakes. and now, the same theory once put forth by Robert Suter - that vortices around the spiders' legs help propel them forward - is confirmed and tested by researchers at MIT. they have designed a Robostrider to demonstrate the water strider's talent. what else are we mimicking?