Out There If The Aliens Have Cities, Will We Be Able To See Them?
Out There If The Aliens Have Cities, Will We Be Able To See Them?
Strange glows on distant worlds could indicate extraterrestrial civilizationsor intriguing new astronomical phenomena.
by Steve Nadis From the July-August special issue; published online August 7, 2012
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On your mark, get set, go! Tailbot may not have the speed of an agama lizard (left) or an extinct velociraptor (right), but it is just as adept at maneuvering its tail in midair to set up a perfect landing.
Biologist Robert Fulls lab is brimming with critters in motion: scuttling crabs, crawling centipedes, prowling geckos. These animals serve as inspiration as he and his colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, build robots that are fast, steady, and agile. In January, Full used his analysis of leaping lizards to design a rugged bot that can navigate through the rubble following an earthquake or other disaster. Fulls breakthrough came from observing Africanagama lizards, which have a remarkable ability to stick a perfect landing after vaulting through the air. The lizards keep their balance during flight, Full found, by moving their tails up and down to counteract the motion of their bodies and keep themselves stable. He thought about how he could apply that technique to search-and-rescue robots, which must remain upright as they clamber across precarious terrain.