A new Mars rover design promises to change planetary exploration, using wheels modeled on the sandfish lizard to “swim” through soft sand rather than roll. Researchers at Universität Würzburg have ...

Getting stuck in sand has ended dreams of exploration before. On Mars, where loose dunes, soft soil and rocky terrain stretch for thousands of kilometres, a trapped rover can mean the loss of years of ...

Some animals can move efficiently beneath granular surfaces. These include the sandfish (Scincus scincus), a lizard native to the Sahara: it can burrow into the sand and then literally ‘swim’ through ...

The sandfish lizard moves very efficiently through the sands of the Sahara desert, and not surprisingly, it doesn't use wheels to do so. Scientists have now copied the reptile's swimming motion in an ...