The Nightlight Akron, OH
Dr. Henry Astley
Associate Professor in the Biomimicry Research & Innovation Center at the University of Akron
Snakes on a Plane— Sneaky snakes and slithering snakebots
Program Description
Snakes have a unique talent for getting into tiny spaces and through cluttered environments. Join us for this special Science on Screen presentation of Snakes on a Plane featuring a post-screening discussion with Dr. Henry Astley, Associate Professor in the Biomimicry Research & Innovation Center at the University of Akron. Learn how snakes perform these amazing feats without feet and how real snakes are helping us learn to make better robotic snakes.
This event is part of our 2024 National Evening of Science on Screen.
Presented At
The Nightlight Akron, OH
Film Synopsis
An FBI agent takes on a plane full of deadly and venomous snakes, deliberately released to kill a witness being flown from Honolulu to Los Angeles to testify against a mob boss.
FBI agent Neville Flynn (Samuel L. Jackson) boards a flight from Hawaii to Los Angeles, escorting a witness to trial. An on-board assassin releases a crate of deadly serpents in an attempt to kill the witness. Flynn and a host of frightened passengers and crew must band together to survive the slithery threat.
About the Speaker
Dr. Henry Astley is currently an Associate Professor in the Biomimicry Research & Innovation Center at the University of Akron, with research interests in comparative biomechanics and bio-inspired robotics, particularly the locomotion of snakes, frogs, and early tetrapods. He originally studied Aerospace Engineering, getting his B.S. from Florida Institute of Technology in 2001, before switching to biology at the University of Cincinnati, where he got a second B.S and an M.S in biology (2005 & 2008) while working on arboreal snake locomotion. Dr. Astley studied elastic mechanisms in frog jumping during his Ph.D. at Brown University (2013), followed by post-doctoral work at Georgia Institute of Technology on sidewinding locomotion in snakes.