In a towering aquarium in a darkened laboratory, moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) hover as if floating in space.

The glow of neon lights illuminates their translucent, bell-shaped bodies as they expand and contract rhythmically, their graceful tentacles flowing in wavelike patterns.

CU Boulder engineer Nicole Xu watches them with fondness. Xu, an assistant professor in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering, first became fascinated with moon jellies more than a decade ago because of their extraordinary swimming abilities. Today, Xu has developed a way to harness their efficiency and ease at moving through the water in ways that could make some types of aquatic research much easier.

She fits the jellies with microelectronic devices that activate key swimming muscles, enabli

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