The secret to mussels’ powerful underwater glue

Mussels spend their days withstanding crashing waves and brutal intertidal environments. A question that has long fascinated scientists and students alike is how they manage to stay tethered to rocks and their fellow mussels amidst these conditions. Luckily, evolution has solutions to such complex design challenges—and it also provides inspiration[Read More…]

Orphaned tongues

A few months ago, I taught my parents a gesture known as the “finger heart.” To make it, you gently cross your thumb and index finger. Selfies featuring this gesture have become a staple of our text conversations, and I hoard a precious collection of screenshots that document this phenomenon:[Read More…]

Computing creativity: A visit to UQAM’s ‘Vers un Imaginaire Numérique’

Upon entering UQAM’s exhibit Vers un Imaginaire Numérique (Designing the Computational Image), tessellated sculptures created from delicate steel and acrylic mesh hang from above. Inspired by biological synthesis, machine learning creates the canopy system, which includes spiralled metallic stars and pyramidal struts. This installation is but the beginning of the[Read More…]

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