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Sperm (tinh trùng) have a unique (độc đáo) sense of direction (tìm hướng đi). The reproductive cells of many species are tuned to seek out eggs, no matter how far or how difficult the journey (hành trình). Take sea urchin (nhím biển) sex. First, males and females will puff out clouds of sperm and egg cells into the ocean (đại dương). To find and fertilize an egg in the open waters, the sperm of these spiny seabed critters follow a chemical bread crumb trail. And engineers are tapping this clever attraction method for smarter, destination-seeking robots of their own.

A study published December 9 in the journal Physical Review E details the similarities between the trajectory (quỹ đạo) of sea urchin sperm and computer systems (hệ thống máy tính) that use a type of real-time (thời gian thực) search approach called extremum seeking. Engineers from the University of California, Irvine and University of Michigan made a mathematical model of the sperm’s pathway to better understand its behavior. According to the authors, assessing the sea urchin’s biological nature (bản chất sinh học) could help design miniature robots that follow cues from sources in the same way.

Since the 1920s, engineers have used extremum seeking as an adaptive control technique to program technologies that help steer or direct systems for maximum function.

Bài trước: Hey, năm 2022 rồi đấy