Snakes in space? In this 1991 lecture, robotics expert Dr. Red Whittaker outlines the potential of "serpentine mechanisms" for space travel. Using footage from a 1990 JTEC assessment of Japanese space robotics, Whittaker demonstrates how these bio-inspired machines could "swim through the environment" without wheels, functioning much like an elephant's trunk to navigate complex obstacles | Computer History Museum

Festo’s bio-inspired robotics work continues to illustrate how nature’s solutions inform advanced engineering. Festo’s *Bionic Learning Network* develops mechanical animals — termed *Bionics* — that replicate biological systems to explore and solve technical problems across automation and robotics. Key examples include: - **SmartBird**: An ornithopter modeled after a herring gull that can take off, fly, and land autonomously using flapping wings that also twist for lift and propulsion. The desig