Researchers at Tufts University have developed a biomimetic coating that changes color when struck, revealing both the location and approximate strength of an impact without needing embedded electronics. Built using silk-protein shells, the material points to a practical new class of low-cost sensing surfaces for helmets, footwear, ropes, cables, vehicles, packaging, and other equipment.

03-Apr-2026

Sparxell is on a mission to revolutionise the world of industrial colourants. Its patented technology uses cellulose from wood pulp to create structural colour – the same principle that creates iridescent butterfly wings – eliminating petroleum-based chemicals, titanium dioxide and toxic heavy metals and minerals. The textile industry alone releases 1.5 million tonnes of toxic synthetic dyes into waterways annually.

03-Apr-2026

This moth-wing-inspired acoustic technology is a strong near-term applicability story because the biological idea is being turned into ultra-thin sound absorption for real interior environments. Wired reported that the work was expected to spin out as Attacus Acoustics in 2026, and the company is now presenting it as a commercial noise-control offering.

03-Apr-2026

In the future, tiny flying robots could be deployed to aid in the search for survivors trapped beneath the rubble after a devastating earthquake. Like real insects, these robots could flit through tight spaces larger robots can’t reach, while simultaneously dodging stationary obstacles and pieces of falling rubble.

03-Apr-2026

Grasshoppers may not spring to mind as paragons of graceful flight. But for a team of Princeton engineers, these gangly insects have inspired a new approach to robotic wings.

03-Apr-2026

Bees navigate their surroundings with astonishing precision. Their brains are now inspiring the design of tiny, low-power chips that could one day guide miniature robots and sensors.

03-Apr-2026

Researchers at Japan’s National Institute of Informatics and collaborators built an insect-inspired robot that can keep tracking an odor source even when one of its two odor sensors fails, by copying the adaptive behavior of silkmoths, which can still navigate with only one antenna. They tested the approach indoors and outdoors, and the robot reportedly maintained strong odor-localization performance despite sensor impairment, which is why the team highlights possible use in disaster response, hazardous-material detection, and environmental monitoring.

02-Apr-2026

Leaving breadcrumbs (well, pheronome trails) to lead the way.

29-Mar-2026

This article reports on a robot system inspired by how ants communicate using pheromone trails. Instead of real chemicals, the robots follow artificial “pheromone” signals so they can coordinate with one another and make group decisions in a similar way to ants.

29-Mar-2026

Fractals!

28-Mar-2026

Honeybees do more than just follow the “direction and distance” in another bee’s waggle dance. They seem to combine that message with their own memory of landmarks in the landscape, so they can form an expectation of what the route should look like and fly more efficiently.

27-Mar-2026

This paper looked at how honey bees pass on food-location information through the waggle dance, and found that these recruitment networks are actually quite thin rather than densely connected. In other words, even though the dance is famous, each bee usually ends up recruiting only a small number of other bees rather than spreading the message widely through the whole colony.

27-Mar-2026