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Cyborg jellyfish have a swimming cap and electric propulsion system

Equipping jellyfish with artificial aids can boost their speed and could allow them to carry ocean sensors

By Alex Wilkins

24 November 2023

This time lapse shows the cyborg jellyfish swimming

Simon R. Anuszczyk and John O. Dabiri

A cyborg jellyfish equipped with a swimming cap and an electric propulsion system can swim at four times its natural speed, and could be used for deep-sea exploration.

John Dabiri at the California Institute of Technology and his colleagues had previously shown that a live jellyfish with neuron-stimulating electronics could swim nearly three times faster than a non-augmented jellyfish in a laboratory setting.

Now, Dabiri and his team have given the creatures a further upgrade in the form of a streamlined plastic cap…

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