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posted by mattie_p on Sunday February 16 2014, @11:00PM   Printer-friendly
from the but-can-it-weave-a-basket dept.

janrinok writes:

"The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is providing many interesting news items this week. The BBC reports that the Black Ghost Knifefish has inspired construction of a new robot. The robotic fish would be able to swim in underwater situation where it would be impossible or too dangerous for a human to swim."

Read more below.

"'Today, we don't really have underwater robots that work well in really cluttered conditions or in conditions where vision isn't useful,' said Prof Malcolm MacIver. 'Just consider the sunken cruise ship. It is very dangerous to send divers into such situations where the water can be very cloudy.'

It is the special propulsion technique employed by knifefish that the Northwestern researcher primarily wants to copy: the ripples sent through the long fin on the belly. Undulate one way, and the fish will move forward; undulate the other way, and the direction of travel is reversed. Using counter-propagating waves that meet in the middle, the fish will move vertically."

 
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  • (Score: 1) by CoolHand on Monday February 17 2014, @01:05PM

    by CoolHand (438) on Monday February 17 2014, @01:05PM (#651) Journal

    Back in the day, when I had aquarium setups, my favorite fish was a black "ghost knife".. I think that it may be the same fish as this, but I can't tell from the crappy picture in the link... Can anyone confirm that?

    --
    Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job-Douglas Adams
  • (Score: 1) by lubricus on Monday February 17 2014, @03:03PM

    by lubricus (232) on Monday February 17 2014, @03:03PM (#756)

    Should be, common names are also difficult. Checked some papers, and the one they work on is:
    Apteronotus albifrons, which is the common black ghost knife. It is also pretty clear from the robot that it was inspired by this fish.

    --
    ... sorry about the typos