As it is getting increasingly difficult to achieve gains in the density and power efficiency of microelectronic computing devices because of lithographic techniques reaching fundamental physical limits, new approaches are required to maximize the benefits of distributed sensors, micro-robots or smart materials. Biologically-inspired devices, such as artificial neural networks, can process infor...

A population of praying mantids Mantis religiosa L. was studied in a submontane habitat near Vicenza in Northern Italy. Sixtythree mantids were observed and studied in the field with the mark and recapture method to obtain ecological information about the coloration patterns, habitat preferences and strategies of this species. Additionally, a population of mantids was housed in artificial condi...

Large insert clone libraries have been the primary resource used for the physical mapping of the human genome. Research directions in the genome community now are shifting direction from purely mapping to large-scale sequencing, which in turn, require new standards to be met by physical maps and large insert libraries. Bacterial artificial chromosome libraries offer enormous potential as the ch...

It has been reported that planula larvae of some jellyfish prefer artificial substrates for settlement. This research focused on the relationship between the settlement of planulae and the wettability of artificial substrate surfaces. We used atmospheric plasmas to change the wettability of the surfaces of polycarbonate (PC) plates because plasma treatment has no chemical side effects. The trea...

Crickets use a pair of hairy appendages on their abdomen called cerci, each of which contains numerous mechano-receptive filiform hairs (Fig. 1). These sensitive hairs can respond even to the slightest air movements, down to 0.03 mm/s, generated by the approaching predators and initiating an escape mechanism in the crickets [1]. Bio-mimicking the cricket cerci, arrays of artificial hair sensors...

A new method of designing horn-fed frequency scanning holographic antenna is proposed. The artificial surface design of holographic antenna is based on generalized law of reflection. The input admittance is utilized to construct the interference pattern of the surface which is intervened by the excitation wave and the required radiation wave. The scalar admittance unit cell which is composed of...

Autonomous learning implemented purely by means of a synthetic chemical system has not been previously realized. Learning promotes reusability and minimizes the system design to simple input-output specification. In this article we introduce a chemical perceptron, the first full-featured implementation of a perceptron in an artificial (simulated) chemistry. A perceptron is the simplest system c...

Dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) micro- and nano-structures are referred to artificial muscles because of their specific continuous power and adequate time response. The bending measurement of an asymmetric, planar DEA is described. The asymmetric cantilevers consist of 1 or 5 μm-thin DEAs deposited on polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) substrates 16, 25, 38, or 50 μm thick. The application of a...

Swinging arms are a key functional component of multistep catalytic transformations in many naturally occurring multi-enzyme complexes. This arm is typically a prosthetic chemical group that is covalently attached to the enzyme complex via a flexible linker, allowing the direct transfer of substrate molecules between multiple active sites within the complex. Mimicking this method of substrate c...

Two-dimensional (2D) atom lattices provide model setups with Coulomb correlations that induce competing ground states. Here, SiC emerges as a wide-gap substrate with reduced screening. We report the first artificial high-Z atom lattice on SiC(0001) by Sn adatoms, based on experimental realization and theoretical modeling. Density-functional theory of our triangular structure model closely repro...