Spinning seeds inspire floating electronics - and monitor the atmosphere

Spinning seeds falling from trees have inspired tiny electronic devices that float through the air. These 'circuit chips with wings' fall slowly and stably and can carry a whole host of electronic components such as sensors and antennae for wireless communication. They can be manufactured in large numbers and dropped from a height to allow high-resolution data collection over a wide area. Read the original research here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03847-y Sign up for the Nature Briefing: An essential round-up of science news, opinion and analysis, free in your inbox every weekday: https://go.nature.com/371OcVF