EMBARK | BREAKTHROUGHS
DISPATCHES
FROM THE FRONT LINES
OF SCIENCE
AND INNOVATIONLOW-TECH, LOW-COST ROBOTS could
run on an unlikely material, say
researchers at Cornell University:
popcorn. When heat is applied, ker-
nels undergo an “amazing transition,”
expanding in less than a second,
says engineer Kirstin Petersen. This
makes popcorn a good candidate for
powering a variety of robots, includ-
ing those that must transform from
flexible to rigid to perform a task.
Imagine, for instance, a kernel-filled,
silicone robot that can squeeze into
a crack in a dam and then plug it by
“popping.” Trials continue, but some
popcorn robots already have a clear
benefit: They’d be biodegradable.
—CATHERINE ZUCKERMANROBOTSPOPPING
POTENTIAL
ENGINEERS HARNESS
THE POWER OF POPCORN
(HOLD THE BUTTER)This is a whale’s earwax.
Museums have long collected whale spec-
imens, many containing massive plugs
of earwax. Scientists have recently found
that whales add two layers to a plug each
year and that layers containing high corti-
sol levels correlate to times when whales
face extra stress: during World War II,
peak whale hunting, and the rise of
ocean temperatures. —CHRISTIE WILCOXANIMALSFlying
Squirrels
Also Glow
In case the ability to
glide between trees
isn’t cool enough,
under ultraviolet
light, flying squir-
rels’ fur glows pink
(below). They are
one of the few
mammals known to
fluoresce: absorb
light in one color,
or wavelength, and
emit it in another.
The glow may aid
nighttime percep-
tions and commu-
nication, especially
in winter, suggests
mammalogist
Paula Spaeth Anich.
“The trait might
be more visible, or
noticeable, in snowy
conditions because
of the high rate of
UV reflectance
off of snow.”
—JAKE BUEHLERPHOTOS (CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT): BRUCE AND GREG DALE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE; STEPHEN J. TRUMBLE, BAYLOR UNIVERSITY;
JONATHAN G. MARTIN, NORTHLAND COLLEGE, IN ALLISON M. KOHLER AND OTHERS, JOURNAL OF MAMMALOGY, 2019Shown
actual size,
roughly
10 inches
in length