Insect Flight, Sans Wings

Next month, UC Berkeley integrative biologist Robert Dudley will travel deep into the rainforests of Panama. What will he and his research team do during this field study? "Mostly we'll be tossing ants," he says. Dudley isn't joking. He's a leading expert in animal flight — bees, birds, hummingbirds, and even ants that manage incredibly sophisticated airborne maneuvers without wings.

Astrophysics Via Helium Balloon

On June 1, UC Berkeley astrophysicist Steve Boggs and a team of graduate students and postdocs gazed into the sky as three years of research vanished into thin air. They were watching a prototype telescope they built ascend into the atmosphere on its maiden voyage. It took a long time before the craft carrying their instrument was out of sight. That's because the telescope wasn't stowed inside a rocket, but rather hanging in the canopy of a massive unmanned helium balloon slowly ascending to the edge of space.

Catalyzing Nanotechnology

As scientists and engineers continue to make progress in the realm of nanotechnology, new tools become necessary to synthesize more complicated structures on such tiny scales. UC Berkeley chemical engineer Alexander Katz is developing several techniques to fashion structures that spur specific chemical reactions but are as small as a single nanometer. His processes range from a cookie-cutter templating technique to methods directly inspired by Mother Nature. Eventually, the materials that Katz and his collaborators discover could speed the development of nanoscale electronic components for future computers and related memory systems.

The Darth Vader of the ant world, Cephalotes atratus, lives in the tropical forest canopy of South and Central America. Almost a centimeter long, its long hind legs and flanged head shield may be the key to its newly discovered ability to glide back to its home tree after falling or dropping. (photo by Steve Yanoviak)