Ever since humankind created the industrial system, we’ve been finding ways to streamline the task. We started by replicating the five ‘traditional’ human senses to count objects, weigh them, record sounds, check pH and detect gases. Sensing technology in the 20th century reproduced the human sensor array and gave us the power of mass manufacturing. We also took our first steps out of the human realm and investigated the field of biomimicry that gave us echolocation and the ability to ‘see’ outside the visible light spectrum.

All these sensors, along with decades of immense computing strides that led to today’s AI, have been combined to powerful effect: we can predict weather and natural disasters, navigate to extraordinary accuracy using our smartphones, and take photographs in the dark.

Throughout our technological evolution, we’ve often turned to the natural world for inspiration, finding phenomena beyond our own senses. We’ve discovered animals that...