Bats
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It has been widely recognized for centuries that organisms possess abilities that could benefit mankind if they could be mimicked. For example, human flight capability is undoubtedly linked to research into the mechanics possessed by birds and insect. Animals have been so well designed that they possess a wealth of information we are only now able to reproduce with the advancement of modern technologies. A variety of organisms are being actively studied in the hopes that we may one day be able to utilize some of their abilities.
Bats - possess sophisticated echolocation that involves signal processing and frequency modulation for collision avoidance. They can even discriminate the direction of travel of moving objects, such as prey.
- Human Application: aircraft collision detection and avoidance
- Cockroaches have a method of walking with 6 legs over terrain that makes them very stable. Stanford researchers are modeling their robots after cockroaches.
- Mimicking cockroaches' 'mechanical intelligence' Stanford Report March 12, 2003
- Lowly roach inspires high-tech robotics - CNN.com - Sep. 27, 2002
- Cockroaches serve as model for more natural robots - EE Times September 4, 2002
- Integrative approach to studying penguins, cockroaches and little hairy noses makes comparative biomechanics group at UC Berkeley the nation's best 04.28.00
- Polypedal Lab - UC Berkeley
- Fireflies utilize compounds to emit cold light that is so efficient it emits no heat.
Human Application: design light emitters that are more energy efficient. The best LEDs are inferior.
Ref: video by Dr. Jobe Martin Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution vol 2
Geckos have an ability to stick to walls involving an “exquisite” design involving a physics force at the micrometer level that is only barely known and never utilized.
- Scientists Learning How Geckos Stick ABCNEWS.com
- The patter of sticky feet Nature Science Update 8 June 2000
Human Application: new types of glues
- Gecko glue round the corner Nature Science Update Aug 28 2002
- Gecko-Inspired Adhesive Sticks It to Traditional Tape Scientific American 6/4/03 Nanotechnologist Andre K. Geim of the University of Manchester and his colleagues set out to create a novel type of adhesive mimicking the gecko's gripping mechanism.
- Horses - by recreating part of a unique leg bone in the horse, researchers are designing stronger materials for planes and spacecraft.
- Mussels - The secret of how mussels glue themselves to rocks, ropes and boats has been unpicked by chemists. The discovery could lead to new surgical adhesives or paints that stop barnacles from sticking to the underside of boats.
- Superglue from the sea Chemists show how mussels get a grip. Nature Science Update. 1/12/2004
- Penguins - propel themselves quickly and efficiently in an unusual way. MIT researchers are designing a propulsion system that is 25 % more efficient than a propeller.
- Proteus - the Penguin Boat
- MIT's Proteus, the Penguin Boat Discover Vol. 19 No. 7 (July 1998)
- Penguin Power Page - Boat Building Industry Product Technologies Page
- MIT 'Penguin Boat' Takes Maiden Voyage Down Charles River 1997
- The Flipper Proves Mightier Than the Propeller - Penguin Propulsion Project
- Sharks have micro-grooves in their skin but swim very efficiently. The physics principle is not well known because a smooth skin should have the least drag, but the Grooved skin is superior. Boat and aircraft researchers are using plastic from MMM with similar microgrooves that has 2-5% less drag and has done better in yacht racing and Olympic scull racing. Boeing has tried on some aircraft.
- Shark Skin for Airliners by Steven Ashley - get the engineering scoop
- Ambrose's Shark Skin Webpage
- Speedskating Santa Barbara -- Go-Faster Stripes and Riblets
- Silk Spiders makes a fiber that is stronger than steel per unit weight, even better than man-made kevlar. The army is now trying to synthesize artificial silk to make bulletproof vests from the chemicals but cannot make the fibers solid like spiders can.
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