Not a scratch: Scorpions may have lessons to teach aircraft designers

http://www.economist.com/node/21545971

Erosion Resistance of Bionic Functional Surfaces Inspired from Desert Scorpions

Transcription factor PIF4 controls the thermosensory activation of flowering

A new understanding of how plants control their timing of reproduction in response to temperature. 

Nature 21 March 2012 

Flowering time is an important trait in crops as well as affecting the life cycles of pollinator species. A molecular understanding of how temperature affects flowering will be important for mitigating the effects of climate change.

Ameboid robot

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/mimssbits/27638/

Links on Bio-Architecture

(ENG) Bio-Architecture Lab

(ITA) Architettura, ritorno al futuro Il nuovo mattone è la biologia 

(ITA) Photogallery

(ENG) Sustainable Now Technologies

(ENG) Philips Bio-light

TED Talk of the architect Thomas Heatherwick, who shows five recent projects featuring ingenious bio-inspired designs:

Functional Morphology of the Lever Mechanism of Salvia pratensis

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2735310/

Abstract

Background and Aims

The functional morphology of Salvia pratensis flowers was re-investigated, after new insights revealed that pollen dispensing is one of the main functions of the staminal lever. In particular, no detailed information was available regarding the process of pollen transfer and the forces arising between the pollen-bearing thecae and the pollinating bee's body. The assumption was made that these forces play a significant role in pollen dispensing.

 

Methods

The functional morphology of S. pratensis flowers and the interaction between flowers and bees (Apis mellifera) were studied by reconstructing stress and strains by using qualitative and semi-quantitative theoretical analysis. Flowers were manipulated to study the spatial arrangement of the filament and lever, and of the head and proboscis of the visiting bee inside the tube. Photographs and films of bee visits on flowers were used to analyse the interaction of pollinator and staminal lever.

 

Key Results

The spoon-shaped lower lever of S. pratensis has a small hole through which a bee introduces its proboscis into the corolla tube. Although mentioned for the first time by Kerner von Marilaun in 1891, presented here is the first drawing and the first photograph showing this interaction in detail. The analysis of the interaction of flower visitor and the lever mechanism revealed that the position of bees on different flowers is spatially very similar. Flower morphology constrains postures of legitimately nectar-probing bees within narrow bounds. A theoretical discussion on structural elements and force progression in the flower allows the principles of lightweight architecture in flower morphology to be recognized.

 

Conclusions

The staminal lever of S. pratensis is a pollen-dispensing device. It seems to influence the amount of pollen deposited on pollinators by determining the forces arising between the pollinator and the pollen. The relevant forces occur either during the first, dynamic phase or during the second, almost static phase of a flower visit.

Key words: Flower–pollinator interaction, bee, Apis mellifera, pollination, pollen uptake, see-saw mechanism, biomechanics, pollen dispensing

 

 

 

 

Back to the future!

Plants back to life after 30.000 years:

Scientists in Russia have grown plants from fruit stored away in permafrost by squirrels over 30,000 years ago.

The fruit was found in the banks of the Kolmya River in Siberia, a top site for people looking for mammoth bones. The Institute of Cell Biophysics team propagated plants of Silene stenophylla in vitro from the fruit tissues.

the full news on BBC News

Nectar guides & foraging

‘X’ marks the spot: The possible benefits of nectar guides to bees and plants

Functional Ecology

Volume 25, Issue 6, pages 1293–1301, December 2011