Archive · 1 Feb 2026
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
- When
- Ongoing research for over a decade
- Where
- Atlanta, Georgia; Amazon rainforest; Peru
- Why
- To make complex science accessible, inclusive, and fun, and to inspire the next generation of scientists
- 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