People’s proud invention of gears was preceded by mindless evolution: The tiny points on the legs of juvenile planthopper insects move like intermeshing cogs. Those cogs in young Issus coleoptratus ...

Gears are ubiquitous in the man-made world, found in items ranging from wristwatches to car engines, but it seems that nature invented them first. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited ...

The small hopping insect Issus coleoptratus uses toothed gears (magnified above with an electron microscope) to precisely synchronize the kicks of its hind legs as it jumps forward. All images ...

Scientists at the Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland have begun studying how to integrate the functionalities of insect legs with modern aircraft designs in order to reduce their weight and make them ...