7 months ago
Scientist Turns Insect Studies into Comics
Saad Bhamla is a scientist who studies how different animals and insects do amazing things.
He turns his research into fun comics so that kids and regular people can understand science easily.
For example, he studied how a tiny spider uses its web like a slingshot to catch food, and how a type of insect called a cicada pees in super-fast droplets.
He also looks at how flamingos use special moves to find their food.
Bhamla believes that by understanding these cool animal tricks, we can invent new things, like better water filters or smarter gadgets.
He shares his work through comics and talks, making science exciting and easy to understand for everyone.
Saad Bhamla studies the behavior of living organisms and turns his research into comics to make science accessible.
He observed the glassy-winged sharpshooter insect urinating in high-speed droplets, which could inspire efficient water-ejector systems for devices like smartwatches.
Bhamla and his team discovered the unique hunting mechanism of the slingshot spider, which uses its web like a spring-loaded hunting machine.
He also studied cicadas in the Amazon rainforest, capturing rare footage of their fluid excretion, which became the foundation of a PNAS paper.
Bhamla's research on flamingos' feeding habits revealed a precise fluid-dynamics strategy that could inspire better water filters.
- Who
- Saad Bhamla, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology
- What
- Studies the behavior of living organisms and turns research into comics
- Where
- Atlanta, Georgia; Amazon rainforest; Peru
- When
- Ongoing research for over a decade
- Why
- To make complex science accessible, inclusive, and fun, and to inspire the next generation of scientists
Key facts
- Scientist
- Saad Bhamla
- Institution
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Research Focus
- Behavior of living organisms
- Comics
- Over a dozen comics based on research
- Future Plans
- Joining University of Colorado, Boulder
- Education
- Chemical Engineering from IIT Madras, PhD from Stanford
- Publications
- Science, PNAS, Current Biology
Quotes
Saad Bhamla
Professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology
“I put a lot of energy into comics, storytelling and outreach. Children need wonder; the general audience – they don’t want to see equations either. The science in the graphic version is still rigorous, but the way we share it has to be accessible, visual, and fun. Comics aren’t a gimmick. They let me take what’s happening in the lab and connect it to kids, to the public, to the next generation of scientists.”
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“In our lab, when we see amazing things like slingshot spiders and wriggling worm blobs, we can’t help but ask: HOW? How do organisms do that? What is the physics behind it? What extraordinary discoveries or inventions can be made using the same biological principles?”
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Sources
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