Inspired by cephalopods — squid, octopus, and cuttlefish — which use ring - shaped muscles to
squeeze small bumps on their skin into large bulges that mimic rocks and algae, researchers created similar reversible protrusions with sheets of stretchy silicone.
Through a process known as «
squeeze expulsion,» particles big (you and your pack) and
small (rocks, chunks of snow) knock into each other at the bottom of the avalanche, where the most impacts occur, and eventually get
bumped up to the top.