There’s a protein that’s basically a tiny little mobile suite that literally walks along microtubules.
Some bacteria propel themselves with a literal electric motor.
Your ears are more something that belongs under the dashboard of a helicopter than something growing organically… they can literally detect an air-pressure change caused by a pin dropping on the other side of the room, by allowing that pressure to beat on a drum connected to a chain of bones that transmit pressure into a little snail that squirts little jets of fluid over a tiny little field of grass stuck to the inside of the snail shell, and depending on how much grass wiggles, it sends a jolt over to your brain as an interpretation of pitch. AND IT DOESN’T STOP THERE! Connected to that snail are three little hula-hoops made of bone, each oriented to a different plane, and also filled with tiny grass and fluid; and when you move your head along that specific plane, the tiny grass wiggles and that’s how your brain knows which way you’re moving / gives you a perception of balance.
Speaking of interesting sensing capabilities there’s also the sea turtles that can detect magnetic fields, although I don’t think people understand the actual mechanical parts yet
yeah, that’s pretty interesting. I would also argue that genetics and the way that information is processed and organized in the body is pretty interesting.
and what’s also cool is that the body has such a consistent spatial layout. I.e. you could think that since genetics produce proteins, they only do a biochemical reaction, but not a mechanical reaction. Then what causes the geometric layout of the body to be so consistently shaped?
Mechanics in nature.
There’s a protein that’s basically a tiny little mobile suite that literally walks along microtubules.
Some bacteria propel themselves with a literal electric motor.
Your ears are more something that belongs under the dashboard of a helicopter than something growing organically… they can literally detect an air-pressure change caused by a pin dropping on the other side of the room, by allowing that pressure to beat on a drum connected to a chain of bones that transmit pressure into a little snail that squirts little jets of fluid over a tiny little field of grass stuck to the inside of the snail shell, and depending on how much grass wiggles, it sends a jolt over to your brain as an interpretation of pitch. AND IT DOESN’T STOP THERE! Connected to that snail are three little hula-hoops made of bone, each oriented to a different plane, and also filled with tiny grass and fluid; and when you move your head along that specific plane, the tiny grass wiggles and that’s how your brain knows which way you’re moving / gives you a perception of balance.
There’s a type of grasshopper with gears in its legs.
I love this shit.
Speaking of interesting sensing capabilities there’s also the sea turtles that can detect magnetic fields, although I don’t think people understand the actual mechanical parts yet
https://uncnews.unc.edu/2025/02/13/sea-turtles-secret-gps-researchers-uncover-how-sea-turtles-learn-locations-using-earths-magnetic-field/
yeah, that’s pretty interesting. I would also argue that genetics and the way that information is processed and organized in the body is pretty interesting.
and what’s also cool is that the body has such a consistent spatial layout. I.e. you could think that since genetics produce proteins, they only do a biochemical reaction, but not a mechanical reaction. Then what causes the geometric layout of the body to be so consistently shaped?