Artificial leaves can produce electricity.

Artificial leaves, which are water-gel based solar devices, can act like a solar cells in order to produce electricity,  a result shown by a study led by North Carolina State Researcher, co-autored by Researchers from the AFR laboratory and Chung-Ang University in Korea. They prove a concept for making solar cells by resembling the nature. This new technology can be less expensive and much more enviromental friendly compared with the silicon based solar cells.

Researchers used the plant chlorophyll coupled with carbon coated electrodes materials like carbon nanotubes or graphite in one of their experiments. This light sensitive molecules get exited by the sun rays and produce electricity just like plant molecules get excited to synthesize sugars in order to grow.

Now the research team, are working to mimic the self-regenerating mechanisms found in plants. Although this new technology looks promising, there is a long way to go before this can become a practical technology. Dr Orlin Velev (lead author of the paper) says "However, we believe that the concept of biologically inspired soft devices for generating electricity may in the future provide an alternative for the present day solid-state technologies"

Physics behind geckos.

Geckos are reptiles from Gekkonidae Family, generally they are small animals. From all the lizards (Squamata) Gekkos are the most specialized taxa. There are some studies argue that geckos are even more diverse and successful than true Lizards.

Geckos has been developed one of the most effectives and versatile form of adherence to the surface of all the animal kingdom, their feet contains millions of tiny, tiny microfibrils kwon as a setae.
This setae are only  a tenth of a millimeter long. (Half the size of a typical paramecium). each one of this branches into thousands of different endings called spatulae, this spatulae are so small that they can't be seen with visible light, the unique way to see it is under UV light. The average length of this spatulae is 0,2 um.



So, in average,  each of one of a gecko's four feet has almost four billions of. When all of this spatulae are in contact with any surface, they create millions of weak molecular attractions called Van der Walls forces, The way these work is pretty simple, and it works similarly to how you can rub an inflated balloon on your cotton shirt, stick it to the wall (or your hair), and have it stay, held up by static electricity. 

The edges of the spatulae get a random charge, either + or - on the tip. When they come near a surface, it causes a charge separation on the surface, and this makes a small, close-range, temporary attraction, like so:

When you get many of these together, they can form a lattice, and result in an extremely large force. The charges will change over time, but as long as they all change together, the attractive force will remain strong, and thus the gecko will remain stuck to the wall.

This amazing capacity of geckos has been studied and reproduced by scientists and biomechanists.  they build artificially setae in order to create new adhesives, (without toxic materials) and even robots that can climb in a lot of surfaces. 

  

Pitvipers.

Pitvipers are all venomous, There are many species found throughout America. The “pits” referred to in the name are sensory depressions located between the nostrils and eyes. They sense heat and aid the snake in locating warm-blooded prey. Pitvipers have long hypodermic fangs in which a poison duct from modified salivary glands can deliver a lethal dose of biochemically complex toxin that attacks blood cells and vessels, surrounding tissue, and sometimes nerve tissue. Pitvipers tend to rest in a coiled position, which they also assume when danger threatens. Any pitviper may be aggressive in display, raising its head high and vibrating its tail. Rattlesnakes normally have large, triangular-shaped heads and slitted, catlike eyes.

The most famous (or infamous) Neotropic pitviper is the fer-de-lance or echis snake (Bothrops asper). This snake has brown dark diamond patterning along its sides. His average length is 1,2-1,8mts but some individuals reach 2,5 mts. Regardless of size, a fer-de-lance is a potentially lethal snake: even the juveniles are highly venomous. The genus Bothrops are responsible for more human morbidity in the Neotropics than any other group of venomous snakes. Venom is fast acting and painful. It rapidly destroys blood cells and vessels and produces extensive necrosis (descomposition) of tissue around the bite site. Infection can follow and can be massive. Mortality without treatment is about 7% but is reduced between 0,5%-3% if properly treated.