Biomimicry

"Researcher Joseph Bahlman, a graduate student at Brown University, developed the robotic bat wing depicted in this video to help scientists better understand the workings of bat flight. "Bats are just really amazing, spectacular flyers," says Bahlman, a National Science Foundation graduate research fellow. "Their wings are extremely dynamic, so much more dynamic than birds or insects. If you look at the wings of a bat, they're just like our hands, they have all these joints that let their wings adapt into lots of different shapes, giving them a tremendous range of aerodynamic forces and maneuverabilities. They fly much better than anything we've engineered. I would love to figure out how that works and then duplicate it."

The ultrasonic waves used by bats have inspired a new piece of technology which can help blind people to detect obstacles. Developers have come up with stick which can vibrate when it's near objects, so that the user can sense their way around.

Researchers are using a unique method to interpret and manipulate the pings and echoes that bats, dolphins, and mole rats use for learning about their environments and capturing their prey.