Introduction

Researchers are making small claws out of dead spiders, dandelion seeds are inspiring scientists to mimic their distribution with small sensors to be able to better track ecological information, and the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument is helping us create a 3D map of the universe.

Undead Spiders 

• “How researchers at Rice University in Texas figured out how to revive dead spiders (sort of)” by Orlando Mayorquin
  • https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/07/28/texas-dead-spiders-necrobotic-grippers/10176634002/?utm_source=usatoday-EveryonesTalking&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=baseline&utm_term=hero&utm_content=USAT-8872UT-E-Everyones-Talking
• “Necrobotics: Biotic Materials as Ready-to-Use Actuators” by Te Faye Yap, Zhen Liu,Anoop Rajappan, Trevor J. Shimokusu, and Daniel J. Preston
  • https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/advs.202201174

Dandelion Drones  

• Tiny Battery-Free Devices Float in the Wind Like Dandelion Seeds by Sarah McQuate
  • https://www.washington.edu/news/2022/03/16/battery-free-devices-float-in-wind-like-dandelion-seeds/
• Wind Dispersal of Battery-Free Wireless Devices by Vikram Iyer, et al.
  • https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04363-9
• Biomimetic Design: 10 Examples of Nature Inspiring Technology by Gertie Goddard
  • https://www.sciencefocus.com/future-technology/biomimetic-design-10-examples-of-nature-inspiring-technology/
• Scientists Took Cues From Helicopter Seeds to Invent Tiny Microchips That Float on Wind by Lindsay Clark
  • https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/24/microfliers_helicopter_seeds/

Dark Energy Made Light 

• Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Creates Largest 3D Map of the Cosmos by Adam Becker
  • https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2022/01/13/dark-energy-spectroscopic-instrument-desi-creates-largest-3d-map-of-the-cosmos/
• This Map of Distant Galaxies Could Help Untangle the Mystery of Dark Energy by Daniel Clery
  • https://www.science.org/content/article/map-distant-galaxies-could-help-untangle-mystery-dark-energy/
• The DESI Science Mission by Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
  • https://www.desi.lbl.gov/the-desi-science-mission/

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Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/undead-spiders-dandelion-drones-dark-energy-made-light

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