The man who 'killed' Pluto and nature in the lab

This episode of TechKnow continues the exploration of new technology and its impact on lives in a first ever on-the-road special.

Our contributors head to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), one of the world's most recognisable and active science institutions, which has captured the imagination of popular culture, having been featured in television shows such as The Big Bang Theory, to check out some of the groundbreaking research and discoveries coming out of the labs.


We speak to MacArthur 'Genius Grant' recipient and Caltech professor of aeronautics and bioengineering, Dr John Dabiri, about mimicking nature in the lab. Dabiri explains how he is studying nature to better understand how to make devices more energy efficient.

According to him, underwater patterns of schools of fish can be used to improve the efficiency of wind turbines, and "stealing ideas" from jellyfish movements to develop underwater vehicles - research that the US Navy is interested in.