Strandbeests on the Shore

SOURCE: CW Uhlinger (bill@nshaonline.org) SUBHEAD: Amazing work, but is this our legacy? Recycled plastic that stalks the shorebreak like living plastic? By Staff on 20 December 2010 for the BBC - (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vt1xp) Image above: Theo Jansen and one of his strandbeests. Stillframe from video below.

Wallace and Gromit explore the wonders of the natural world and look at inventions inspired by Mother Nature. We visit some incredible flying penguins and other elegant manta-ray-inspired robots at Festo in Germany and visit Malawi, where scientists are studying the intricate structures of termite mounds to create self-cooling houses of the future.

In Holland we meet the brilliant sculptor Theo Jansen as he shows us his latest amazing contraption, the Animaris Siamesis - a huge insect-like structure that moves independently and gracefully with the wind.

Kinetic sculptor and artist Theo Jansen builds 'strandbeests' from yellow plastic tubing that is readily available in his native Holland.

The graceful creatures evolve over time as Theo adapts their designs to harness the wind more efficiently. They are powered only by the wind and even store some of the wind's energy in plastic bottle 'stomachs' to be used when there is no wind.

Video above: "Theo Jansen's Strandbeests". From (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSKyHmjyrkA). .