Classical robots are extremely good for performing a specific task for which they've been designed... If you want that robot to do something a little different, it will fail miserably, but when you look at living organisms, they've been optimized also for versatility.

Michel Milinkovitch

This study potentially establishes a link between a human pathological condition and the skin of African elephants, strikingly, we show strong similarities between the normal skin morphology of African elephants and that of humans affected by' ichthyosis vulgaris,' a common genetic disorder affecting about 1 in 250 people that is known to impact shedding of the skin and cause dry, scaly skin.

Michel Milinkovitch

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We would like to follow the cracking on the skin of a baby African elephant to understand the dynamic of the process, are the cracks appearing everywhere or do they appear in a specific place and then propagate ? Does it take... weeks or does it take six months ? It's a new, beautiful example of how physical processes are involved in the development of animal forms and shapes.

Michel Milinkovitch

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This beautiful fine pattern of millions of channels is adaptive. by Michel Milinkovitch

This beautiful fine pattern of millions of channels is adaptive.

Michel Milinkovitch

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Elephants have sort of a toolkit of simple movements, and they can combine these simple movements to complex trajectories, they can adapt to the object you give them.

Michel Milinkovitch

There's a very fine control over what part of the trunk is contracting, it's not the whole trunk that is elongating and shortening -- it's portions, depending on what the elephant is doing.

Michel Milinkovitch

It's a new paradigm in robotics, instead of using metallic segments connected by articulations, the idea is to have objects that are moving but they are made of flexible materials.

Michel Milinkovitch

It's also a feeling of wonder just looking at these amazing creatures.

Michel Milinkovitch