Moth Muted | Worm Food | NAUTy Dog - The Convo Kit #53

Accidently became a WFH bird-watcher. Blue Jays, Chickadees, and occasional Cardinals hang out near my desk. Mourning Doves occupy the rear porch. Though I’m just a colorblind casual, these could all be beautiful Pigeons.

-Steve

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Moth Muted

Deaf moths avoid bats by absorbing sonar with their bodies. Chinese oak silk moths have special scales that effectively put them in stealth mode.

• 85% of incoming sound is absorbed

• Unabsorbed sound is weakly reflected, hiding the moth in plain sight

• Samples were then analyzed for non-bat soundproofing

Pointing ultrasound speakers directly at 8-mm discs of moth scales resulted in 87% sound absorption. Researchers hope to develop sound-proof wallpaper by mimicking these muted moth scales. Until then, I’ve installed a moth sanctuary in all my walls.

MOTHer nature’s noise-cancelling

Worm Food

Superworms have been observed to not only survive, but thrive on an all-plastic diet. Zophobas morio’s gut bacteria convert polystyrene into energy.

• Discovered via metagenomics (study of genetic material from its natural habitat)

• Z. morio are 1.7-2.25” long

• Pupate into beetles, but only if isolated for a week

Researchers are working on growing the superworm’s gut bacteria in a lab. The end goal is to engineer these enzymes into commercial-scale recycling systems. Though I’m more interested in living recycling bins.

Ya dig?

NAUTy Dog

It turns out, you can teach a robo-dog new tricks. Onyx Industries’ NAUT attachment propels quadruped robots through water.

• NAUT = Nautical Autonomous Unmanned Tail

• Can swim for up to 35 minutes

• Top speed: 3 knots (~3.5 mph)

NAUT acts as more of a thruster than a tail, tooting along under water. It was designed for Ghost Systems’ Vision-60 robo-dog and enables a more flexible patrol/disaster response utility for our four-legged friends.

Doggy paddle

Clickables

• Surprisingly relaxing: 7 beautiful moths in slow motion

• The moon, held up by trees

• Wood doesn’t grow on trees; growing wood in a labs

• A road that charges EVs as they drive 

• Electric rickshaws run on used EV batteries thanks to Audi and Nunam

st3v on site

Tail Wind

st3v’s land testing of robo-dog swim tech was NAUT very discreet.

Thank you for reading!

Missed last week’s Convo?

Catch-up here: Renewable Blobbery | RoboCrop | Disc Disco - The Convo Kit #52

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