Xploration Nature Knows Best

Flying planes in tight formation to mimic the energy-efficient flight patterns of migrating birds; inventing wings that change their shape while in flight; jumping out of a plane to test an innovation based on the flying squirrel.

The Bullitt Center living building mimics a tree; nature-based inventions change buildings.

Fish help people to build better armor; woodpeckers help people to address concussions; a deadly creature saves lives by keeping planes in the sky during icy conditions.

A reef that's full of life; an invention based on lobster eyes; becoming one with the fish by turning feet into fins; riding inside a vehicle based on sharks, whales and dolphins.

Humans destroy the planet to create energy; finding ways to improve solar power, wind power and even kinetic power.

A look at how nature has inspired inventions; Velcro was influenced by the sticky burrs of the burdock plant; robots that can scale walls; suction cups inspired by one sucky fish; an innovation based on the gecko.

Helicopters took a lot of their early inspiration from the dragonfly; a look at how the dragonfly and the wings of owls continue to inspire helicopters; how the maple seed has inspired unmanned aerial vehicles.

Biomimicry: Places where the science is taking hold, from schools to zoos, to national conventions.

Sharks' skin is used to fight germs; sharks' senses help to build better robots; wetsuits make people nearly invisible to the ocean's top predators.

Scientists study animals' swarm behavior to make better robots, collect things on other planets and make better autonomous cars.

Robots' inventors look toward nature to see how animals can help them to do the things that humans cannot.

Some of the world's strongest materials are naturally made, like the silk spiders use to make their webs.

Join Danni as she checks out tiny robots based on manta rays that are helping to fight heart problems, robots that are learning to run as fast as our speediest animals, and giant snake-like robots that are drawing attention to climate change.