Biology’s Hillel Chiel discusses recent findings on gear-like structures of insect legs

Insect jumps powered by mechanical ‘gears’

Inside Science: A new study conducted by University of Cambridge researchers suggests that baby plant-hopping insects are powered by structures in their legs that look and work like human-made mechanical gears. Hillel Chiel, professor of biology, neurosciences and biomedical engineering, said that such biological devices haven’t been replicated “due to limitations in the materials available to humanity relative to those that can naturally be used by biological organisms.”