Inventors often use nature as inspiration. One example cited is that of Velcro, which was inspired by the little hooks on the surface of burrs. Here are more recent examples.
Fly like a jellyfish
New York University: A proof-of-concept aircraft that could ultimately replace the helicopter moves through the air like a jellyfish through water. A jellyfish billows out its skirt, then closes it tightly, squirting water from the small opening. To imitate this movement, the tiny, ultra-light aircraft—weighing—only 2.1 g, has four petal-shaped wings that form a cone. These wings are pushed outwards and downwards 20 times a second, forcing out air through the bottom of the cone. The aircraft flies and hovers with high stability, and if knocked over, stabilises by itself. It changes direction by making of of the wings work harder than the others.
News24 (2014, January 15). ‘Jellyfish aircraft’ takes flight. http://www.news24.com/Technology/News/Jellyfish-aircraft-takes-flight-20140115.
Ristroph, L. & Childress, S. (2014). Stable hovering of a jellyfish-like flying machine. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 11(92). DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2013.0992. Available for free.
Cling like a gecko
Gecko feet adheres to smooth surfaces even if they have been covered in dirt and dust. Adhesive tapes … don’t, which means you cannot open and close bandages or packages secured by adhesive tape without the tape losing ‘stickiness.’ When moving, a gecko’s toes drag across the surface, removing larger dirt particles. Smaller particles deposit between the setae (small bristles) and in skinfolds of the gecko’s feet. With these two mechanisms, about 95% of dirt and dust are removed. A new adhesive tape being developed will not only cling to a surface as securely as the toes of a gecko, but also self-clean in a similar way. Experiments have shown that the gecko’s setae can be replicated by microhair in the nanometer range (10-9 m), smaller than most dust particles, and the skinfolds by wide grooves between the narrow rows of hair. Scientists at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany and the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburg are testing various materials.
Karlruhe Institute of Technology (2014). Gecko-inspired adhesion: self-cleaning and reliable.
Menguc, Y., Rohrig, M., Abusomwan, U., Hölscher, H., and Sitti, M. (2014). Staying sticky: Contact self-cleaning of gecko-inspired adhesives. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 11(94). DOI: 10.1098/%u200Brsif.2013.1205.
Batteries inspired by pomegranates
Lithium-ion batteries using silicon anodes can hold up to ten times as much charge as existing rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. The problem is that silicon swells and breaks during charging. It also reacts with the electrolytes, fouling up the circuits. To avoid these problems, scientists at Stanford University are using silicon nanowires that are too small to break, and encasing them in carbon “yolk shells” (see image on the left) that would allow for some swelling. The yolk shells are arranged like pomegranate seeds—in clusters—so that they would conduct electricity without exposing the silicon. Experiments show that the pomegranate-inspired anode operates at 97% capacity even after 1000 cycles of charging and discharging.
Gizmodo (2014, 17 February). Pomegranate-inspired batteries hold 10x the juice.
Liu, N., Lu, Z., Zhao, J., McDowell, M.T., Lee, H-W., Zhao, W., & Cui, Y. (2014). A pomegranate-inspired nanoscale design for large-volume-change lithium battery anodes. Nature Nanotechnology, 9. 187-192. DOI:10.1038/nnano.2014.6. Abstract only.
Secure like heart and lungs
To encrypt confidential information, scientists at Lancaster University are working on a new encryption scheme based on the way the human heart and lungs pass information between each other to coordinate their rhythms. This encryption method offers an infinite number of choices for the secret encryption key shared between the sender and receiver, making it virtually impossible for hackers and eavesdroppers to crack the code. It can also transmit several different information streams simultaneously, enabling all the digital devices in the home, for example, to operate on one encryption key instead of dozens of different ones.
Lancaster University (2014). "Unbreakable” security codes inspired by nature.
Stankovski, T., McClintock, P.V.E., & Stefanovska, A. (2014). Coupling functions enable secure communications. Physical Review X, 4(1). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevX.4.011026. Full text available for free.
Shrimp vision
Cancer cells reflect polarised light in such a way that it can be easily identified. People cannot see this light, but a mantis shrimp can. Scientists at the University of Queensland are now designing cameras based on the compound eyes of the mantis shrimp. These cameras that can detect a variety of cancers, and visualise brain activity.
University of Queensland (2014, 5 December). Nature’s elegant and efficient vision systems can detect cancer.
York, T., Powell, S.B., Gao, S., Kahan L. et al. (2014). Bioinspired polarization imaging sensors: From circuits and optics to signal processing algorithms and biomedical applications. Proceedings of the IEEE, 102(10). DIO: 10.1109/JPROC.2014.2342537.
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