Nature-inspired discoveries and inventions
Mother Nature is a huge classroom that offers many lessons for those who take the time to reflect and discover. Learn about the many things widely used today that were inspired by the way things work in the natural world Human beings have been deriving benefits from nature to fulfil their needs in a number of ways which serve as a source of inspiration, motivation, recreation, education, research, food and much more. In other words, nature is a huge classroom where human beings have learnt a lot of things with the passage of time through contemplation, discoveries and inventions.
Scientists and inventors study characteristics of things in nature and comes up amazing technologies and products invented as a result of studying nature.
products invented as a result of this.
Following are some of the discoveries and innovations that human beings have made thanks to nature, in one way or the other.
Flight
Inventors studied the flight of birds with a desire to fly like them up in the sky and travel long distances over oceans, mountains, plains and deserts.
In Great Britain, Stringfellow had built a small unmanned glider in 1848. Later on, it was the gliding flight of albatross, a sea bird, which inspired the inventors in 1856 to design a glider. Latter on in 1903, the Wright Brothers were propelled to design the first-ever powered airplane, Kitty Hawk. Today, with advanced technologies, we see aircrafts of all kinds up in the sky flying and appearing like birds.
Submarine
Studying the whales, scientists came up with an idea to invent the submarine, so as to sail under the vast oceans. The design of the submarines is based on the shape of whales. And like whales, submarines also their sonar system to trace food and avoid hurdles. This ability of measuring distances of targets has also been built in submarine to manoeuvre movements under water.
Whales can stay for long period of time in water and submarines also have this ability.
Velcro
Among the things that people have been inspired by nature to invent is the Velcro. Its inspiration came from the hooked barbs of the thistle.
In 1948, George de Mestral, a Swiss engineer, observed the burrs of burdock stuck to his dress and dog. He studied its interlocking system and copied it to design the Velcro, that uses a hook-and-loop style of binding for fastening. It comprises two strips of fabric, one covered in thousands of tiny hooks and the other with thousands of tiny loops, the materials grip together firmly while still allowing easy release. It is now widely used in many things and is also called as a zipperless zipper.
Bullet train
Scientists studied birds and invented bullet trains which have beak-like front fashioned like that of the kingfisher. They observed that the beaked front in birds help them minimise air pressure when they fly or plunge into water, just like the kingfisher.
Taking up this idea, inventors designed modern trains with a beak-like pointed design of the front to reduce air pressure and noise during travelling. This approach has also been used for the airplanes that fly at higher altitudes.