Press release strictly embargoed until 14:00 (2:00 pm) U.S. Eastern Time Thursday, 12 February 2026.

Scientists discover the secret behind the elephant’s sense of touch

In a paper published in Science, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, the Humboldt University of Berlin, and the University of Stuttgart have discovered that the secret to the elephant’s amazing sense of touch is in its unusual whiskers. This research has the potential to inspire new physically intelligent robotic sensing approaches that resemble the unusual whiskers that cover the elephant trunk.