Finely tuned for touch and smell, the fly foot has sensors that can detect both chemical and mechanical changes in the environment. The outcome of more than three billion years of evolution, these sensors are far smaller and more sophisticated than man-made chemical sensors which are generally capable of detecting only single types of substances, let alone vibrations and pressure as well. Yet the larvae of the fly manufactures its wonderfully versatile foot originating from just a few cells in its body and using as its raw material something as commonplace as a small piece of fruit found in virtually all compost heaps the world over.
From molecules to jungles, biological systems grow themselves. This natural hierarchical self-assembly process, which operates simultaneously on many scales, fascinates Dr Chris Forman, an Associate Researcher at Cambridge University’s Institute for Manufacturing. Having trained as a theoretical physicist and worked in satellite communications, he decided to concentrate his research efforts on sustainability and to look at how academic disciplines could work together to unlock some of the mysteries that lie behind the staggeringly complex processes in biology.
Forman is one of the contributors to a new series of online videos titled Under the Microscope produced by the University of Cambridge.
See the video and read the full story
Reproduced courtesy University of Cambridge