This bio-drone might resemble a propeller-powered egg carton, but already the designers say it has the ability to fly into environmentally sensitive areas and leave almost no trace.
Fly & die —
This bio-drone might resemble a propeller-powered egg carton, but already the designers say it has the ability to fly into environmentally sensitive areas and leave almost no trace.
Courtesy Eli Block/Stanford Brown Spelman
Made from a substance that combines mushroom fibres and cloned paper wasp spit, Lynn Rothschild, the NASA developer guiding students from Stanford-Brown-Spelman working on the project, says the drone could be made to disappear simply by crashing it into a stream or puddle.
Made from a substance that combines mushroom fibres and cloned paper wasp spit, Lynn Rothschild, the NASA developer guiding students from Stanford-Brown-Spelman working on the project, says the drone could be made to disappear simply by crashing it into a stream or puddle.
courtesy Stanford-Brown-Spelman
The team grew cellulose "leather" to coat the fungal body of the flying craft and then covered the sheets with proteins sourced from the saliva of paper wasps -- a water resistant material that the insects use to cover their nests.
The team grew cellulose "leather" to coat the fungal body of the flying craft and then covered the sheets with proteins sourced from the saliva of paper wasps -- a water resistant material that the insects use to cover their nests.
courtesy stanford-brown-spelman
The team is working on perfecting the biodegradable drone and is studying how to build its sensors from modified E. coli bacteria, the bacteria most commonly found in the intestines of humans and animals.
The team is working on perfecting the biodegradable drone and is studying how to build its sensors from modified E. coli bacteria, the bacteria most commonly found in the intestines of humans and animals.
courtesty stanford-brown-spelman
The circuits are printed from silver nanoparticle ink in an effort to make the machine as biodegradable as possible.
The circuits are printed from silver nanoparticle ink in an effort to make the machine as biodegradable as possible.
courtesy stanford-brown-spelman