Humans are but a single part in a massive natural system that encompasses an infinite myriad of creatures and natural elements. However, God has bestowed the magnificent gift of the intellect only on mankind, which has enabled us to build our longstanding civilization.
Throughout history, the human mind has always drawn inspiration from the surrounding natural elements to find solutions for challenges and design novel creations—from tools, inventions, architecture, materials, to artworks. In scientific terms, this process is known as biomimetics or biomimicry. Although it is an ancient practice, the scientific concept of biomimetics was first introduced in the 1950s by American biophysicist and inventor Otto Schmitt, giving rise to a multidisciplinary field of scientific research based on the simple idea that nature is the wisest teacher and innovator could ask for.
Just like silkworms inspired the silk industry, pigeons inspired aviation, and the footpads of reptiles and insects inspired super adhesive substances, creatures of the hydrosphere also have their valuable input in human innovations. Let us investigate some of these.
Whale Flippers
It was wonderous for me to find out that the research work aiming to enhance the aerodynamics of wind turbines has actually been inspired by the hydrodynamics of the flippers of humpback whales. The bumps located on the front edge of the flippers change the distribution of pressure along the limb, helping the whales reduce drag and generate more lift.
Frank Fish, biologist at West Chester University, USA, published two research papers in 2008 and 2011, in the Integrative and Comparative Biology Journal, tackling hydrodynamic flow control in marine mammals and the relevant biomimetic technological applications. A North American company put research into action, developing wind turbine blades that mimic the whales’ flippers. They advised the biomimetic blades more stable, quiet, and durable than conventional turbines. Also, they can produce the same amounts of energy at much lower wind speeds.
Sharkskin
In Summer 2018, I wrote an article entitled “Athlete by Nature”, where I tackled how sharkskin is covered with tiny v-shaped structures that make them unbeatable swimmers. Known as dermal denticles, these structures create a vortex that sucks the shark forward and increase thrust. There have been several research trials to produce sharkskin-like membranes to take advantage of the speeding effect.
Yet another merit of the dermal denticles have caught the attention of innovators; namely, inhibiting bacterial growth. Anthony Brennan, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, was in a research mission aiming to keep algae from coating the hulls of submarines and ships when he observed that micro-organisms such as bacteria tend not to land on sharkskin. This inspired him to design adhesive films with dermal denticle micro-patterns.
When tested, these films successfully repelled more than 90% of bacterial attachment on high-touch surfaces, without the use of chemicals. Sharklet films, as Brennan dubbed them, can be particularly useful in hospitals and other health care facilities, enormously increasing overall surface hygiene and reducing contagion risks.
Suckerfish Disc
Remoras, also known as suckerfish, are phoretic creatures; they depend on attaching themselves to hosts that offer them free rides, a safe haven, and a food source. Suckerfish is equipped with a suction organ in disc form—rather than a dorsal fin—on its head, which enables it to adhere itself by suction to other creatures. The disc is made of sturdy, yet flexible, membranes known as lamellae. These membranes have spinules that the fish control through muscles to form a low-pressure zone and generate suction.
A team of Chinese and American researchers took the remoras as an inspiration for engineering a biomimetic suction disc, and published the details of their innovation in the Science Robotics journal in 2017. To fabricate the main disc structure, they used multi-material three-dimensional printing techniques. Then, they added spinules made of carbon fibers.
The prototype successfully attached to different surfaces and generated considerable sucking force, up to 340 times the weight of the disc. This new adhesive gadget has promising applications such as attaching sensors and other equipment to the bodies of marine creatures to monitor and study them.
Mother nature does it best; this concludes it all. Now that Biomimetics has established its status as an essential field of research that has its own scientific journals and commercial technology companies, we only need to look out for other lessons nature can teach humans.
References
biosphereonline.com
ehistory.osu.edu
gtac.edu.au
news.mongabay.com
sharklet.com
techxplore.com
whalepowercorp.wordpress.com
Photo credit Freepik