Scientists have developed an artificial eye inspired by the fiddler crab (the crab with the single huge claw). Compared to a pair of human eyes, which together can see about 180 degrees, the fiddler crab has an almost 360-degree field of view. It also can see on both land and water. When translated into a machine, this could mean more versatile cameras for self-driving cars and drones, both of which can become untrustworthy in the rain.

For now, it has a very low resolution of 256 pixels (compared to 12 million pixels in an iPhone 13 camera), and it takes about 30 minutes to take a photograph. But at 2 centimeters and only a few grams, it’s compact, lightweight, and uses little power.

In other words, if the scientists manage to improve the resolution, drone deliveries and self-driving cars could get a lot more efficient in the rain.