From Pomegranates to Batteries: Stories of Taking Inspiration from Nature

Published in

The Pragyan Blog

6 min readJul 8, 2018

*Burdock burrs. (Picture Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons)*

The year was 1941.
George de Mestral had just returned from the Alps after a hunting trip with his dog when he noticed something unusual.
There were tiny burdock seeds stuck all over his clothes and his dog’s fur. Thankfully, de Mestral was a scientifically-minded man, and he decided to examine the seeds under the microscope. What he saw there blew his mind and paved way for one of the most practical inventions ever.

Yes, we are talking about Velcro. Burdock seeds (or ‘burrs’) have microscopic ‘hooks’ on them which catch onto anything that has tiny loops, like fur. What the plant uses as a means of seed dispersal has inspired a useful fastening mechanism that now finds applications everywhere, from hiking equipment to accessories for astronauts.

The concept of copying nature (or biomimicry, as the geeks love to call it) is not new, but it has seldom failed to bring forth new products or improve existing ones. From windmill blades that resemble whale fins to optimizing solar cells by studying leaves, biomimicry is all around us, easing our difficulties.

Still doubtful? Here are some instances of nature-inspired innovations to convince you.

Industrial Lighting

*This trendy-looking device can give you 150W of light without breaking a sweat. (Picture Courtesy:* *www.trendhunter.com)*

Ah, lights! What a boon to humanity…if only they don’t get so hot! Most of the lighting solutions used today get heated up pretty easily, with even household models reaching searing temperatures. Speaking of industrial ones, well, no comments there.

Enter Phillips Black Snow, which are bio-inspired industrial lights that take cue from snowflakes to manage overheating. The back of the light is designed in a shape similar to that of flakes of snow so that it can dissipate heat efficiently without damaging the equipment. Therefore, it is not necessary to employ external fans for this purpose.

Waterproof Fabric

It is common knowledge that lotus leaves repel water. As expected, it did not take long for researchers around the world to improve superhydrophobic coatings similar to the one on lotus leaves for fabric and other material. The next time your assignment papers have been saved from rain by your waterproof bag, go thank the nearest lotus plant you can find.

Artificial Intelligence

Well, if you consider this, the whole field of AI is built on biomimicry, on how to make machines think and work like living organisms. Artificial neural networks imitating real brain neurons, genetic algorithms that ‘evolve’ over ‘generations’ to work out the best solution to a problem, artificial immune systems that mimic their vertebrate counterparts for enhanced memory and problem-solving: Do you still have any doubts as to who came up with these beautiful mechanisms first?

*This may look like a piece of modern art, but it is actually an evolved antenna developed by NASA for a better radiation pattern, using genetic algorithms. (Picture Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons)*

Bullet Trains

What do birds and trains have in common? Apparently, a lot. Both entities need to cut through fluids soundlessly at high speeds, for a start. While you may have heard about how the ‘noses’ of the Shinkansen (Japanese bullet trains) are modelled on kingfisher beaks to be aerodynamically efficient, this is not the only avian-inspired feature involved here. You would’ve noticed extensions on top of a train which are in constant contact with the overhead power supply wires. These are called pantographs. In order to reduce noise due to them while moving at high speeds, engineers took to studying owls.

Now, owls’ plumage contains a special kind of feather called the serration feather which helps reduce noise while flying. The sound, in this case, is usually caused when air (or any fluid) forms ‘vortexes’. Serration feathers reduce noise by breaking up these vortexes into smaller ones, which is one of the reasons why owls can swoop down on their prey soundlessly. Similar serrations have been made on pantographs, which has reduced train noise considerably.

Swimsuits

The next one is an innovation based on the world’s best swimmers. No, I’m not talking about your favourite Olympian, but about these big guys down in the ocean.

Of course. At 50 kilometres per hour, sharks are ace swimmers. This prompted swimsuit manufacturers and scientists to create a sharkskin-like fabric that has a rough surface, which reduces drag and is said to help swimmers reach greater speeds. These swimsuits came into limelight during the 2008 Olympics as many star swimmers donned them. However, they have been banned from major competitions ever since, due to several reasons. In any case, one thing is for sure: it is going to take quite some time before humans wearing fake sharkskin can beat real sharks in a swimming race.

Business Productivity

The domains of biomimicry are not limited to tech alone; management guys have a lot to learn from our environment too. Ant colonies that behave like superorganisms are a great example of how organisations should act in order to achieve higher productivity. Many such insect societies have bottom-up power hierarchies and other salient features that vastly improve their agility and resilience to adversity, which are important in any organization.

Batteries

*Not just pretty, but also very efficient. (Picture Courtesy: pxhere.com)*

Scientists at the Stanford University and the US Department of Energy have succeeded in creating lithium-ion batteries whose electrodes are modelled on the packing of pomegranate seeds in the fruit. The anode has silicon nanoparticles clustered like seeds, set in carbon in a way reminiscent of the arrangement in a pomegranate. This set-up is said to operate at a whopping 97% capacity even after 1000 cycles of charging and discharging. That’s quite some efficiency when you come to think of it.

Smart Buildings

Let’s say you are walking down a deserted road on a sunny day and you see a snake some distance away, basking in the warmth. What will you do? If it were me, I’ll be off at the top of my speed, but others have better ideas. Engineers are looking at how snakes equalize their body temperature by moving periodically from the sun to shade and vice versa. This knowledge is crucial while constructing smart and self-sufficient buildings that help in saving energy by making the most of natural heating, cooling and lighting. Termite nests and beaver colonies are some natural structures that are setting examples for civil engineers to learn from.

Beavers have been building dams even before us humans started doing so, so it’s only fair that we should take a leaf out of their book — or rather, a twig out of their dams. You get the idea. (Picture Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons)

The list does not end here, and this is only a small sample of how having a keen eye on the natural world can help build better human lives.

So if you are sitting in your room and staring at the computer screen for an idea to strike, perhaps you should go outdoors and look around, for learning from Nature never goes out of style.