Evolution is nature’s great R&D division. Through mutation,
natural selection, and other processes, life can find new
solutions for the challenge of staying alive. It’s possible to
see a simplified version of this problem solving at work in the
lab. The genetic molecule RNA, for example, can evolve into
shapes that allow it to do things no one ever expected RNA to
do, like join together amino acids. Over millions of years,
evolution can solve far bigger problems. How can a mammal became
an efficient swimmer? How can a bug fly? Humans would like to
build ocean-going vehicles as efficient as dolphins, and
miniature robots as efficient as flies. For these and many other
wish-list items, researchers are turning to the products of
evolution for inspiration. Last year in Popular Science I wrote
about one of the most interesting people doing this kind of work
right now, the Macarthur genius grant winner Michael Dickinson
of CalTech. Dickinson is figuring out how flies fly. It’s
surprising that they can fly at all, a