Is it a Bird? Is it a Plane?
Mia Sawyer, Staff Writer
Nature has played just as big of a part in the development of flight as science has; with the structural design inspired by creatures that have existed for centuries, combined with recent technology such as 3D printing. From the 16th century, Leonardo da Vinci observed the wings of bats and birds and continued to design the flight system. Da Vinci believed that if humans could flap (and grow) their wings, they could overcome gravity and fly into the sky. The V-shaped formation within migrating birds like geese and ducks has inspired fuel-efficient flight patterns for long-haul flights. Recently, NASA developed a revolutionary wing inspired by the wing movements of birds, with a flapping motion. The design could go through a range of positions and angles throughout the flight, reflecting the bird’s wing, demonstrating the use of nature observation within aviation development.

Neuromorphic Computing
Ray Das, Staff Writer
Neuromorphic computing takes inspiration from a range of basic neurobiological processes. It focuses on developing systems capable of simulating the basic structure and functions of neuronal and synaptic connections present in the brain. What differentiates them from conventional computing systems is their collocated and parallel processing memory storage and event-driven activity, which can be attributed to the nature of neuronal systems. This further makes these systems an ideal platform for developing AI and machine-learning algorithms. While not yet commercially available, some neuromorphic computing systems, like SpiNNaker by the Human Brain Project and Loihi by Intel, are accessible for research. Their energy-efficient and stochastic nature makes them ideal for potential use in areas of autonomous systems, IoT, and AI accelerators for personal devices and they serve as coprocessors for high-performance computing.

A Ray of (Artificial) Sunshine
Lucy Spencer, Staff Writer
While both Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and its companion, the light box, may seem like new phenomena, this black-cat-and-golden-retriever duo have been around since the 19th century. Although the term SAD was first coined in the 1980s by Norman E. Rosenthal M.D., phototherapy was introduced almost 100 years earlier. The 1903 Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology winner, Niels Ryberg Finsen, advocated the therapeutic effects of artificial light sources. Despite light therapy’s ability to treat a range of conditions, including the aforementioned SAD, disorders affecting circadian rhythm, acne, and psoriasis, with it came the invention of the sunbed – a creation which, instead of ameliorating the symptoms of various diagnoses, can cause one big one. Overall, the SAD lamp’s impression of the sun’s more favourable qualities is admirable, even if some consider it a placebo. But if you want to get tanned in England, please just peruse the shelves of Boots.

Swarm AI
Semhar (Semi) Tesfazgy, Editor-In-Chief
When talking about tech inspired by nature, Swarm AI is a standout example in applying natural processes to Artificial Intelligence. The expression was first coined by Gerardo Beni and Jing Wang in 1989, during the development of cellular robotics systems. Inspired by observations of the collective behaviour of animals in nature such as birds and fish, Swarm AI is a subsection of computational intelligence that centres on the interactions between multiple intelligent agents in a group (or swarm, hence the name) – instead of the more traditional approach focusing on an isolated agent. Typically, this tech is used as a computational modelling technique. Examples of popular simulations using this tech include using the patterns of bird swarms as a basis for business and economic complex systems.
