The Starset SocietyBy: Rhodilee Jean Dolor
Aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright were able to invent and fly the first airplane by observing how birds fly. They learned that birds adjust the angles of their wings to control their movement in the air. This led to the development of the wing warping technique used by the early flying machines.
The Wright brothers used what is now known as biomimicry when they applied the mechanisms of bird flight to their airplanes. Today, researchers continue to observe and study the natural world to solve human problems and improve our way of life.
Slime Mold and Efficient Transport Networks
In a 2010 study, a group of researchers placed food scraps in a petri dish and positioned these to replicate the most visited locations in Tokyo. The food scraps were then fed to physarum polycephalum, a slime mold that grows as a greenish-yellow system of veins that can efficiently transfer nutrients throughout the organism.
The slime mold spread across the edible map and then formed a complex network of branches between the food sources that look almost exactly like Tokyo’s rail system, one of the best in the world with 102 train lines and transports an estimated 14 billion passengers per year.
Following this finding, Raphael Kay, from University of Toronto, and colleagues created a computer model that simulates the way slime molds build their network.
Using the slime mold model, the researchers created two sample networks. One is based on the locations of roller coasters and food stands at a local amusement park and the other was based on the locations of 17 key subway stations in Toronto.
Kay and colleagues found that the slime mold-inspired computer model generated an amusement park network that makes travel time faster by 10 percent for the same cost of the real-life network. The network is also 80 percent more resilient when one of the segments is blocked.
The generated subway network still has the same travel time as the real network but the researchers said that it is 40 percent less susceptible to disruption.
“In architecture school, we were taught by human architects the lessons of past human architecture. But the slime mold has been shaped by hundreds of millions of years of evolution, so in that sense, they are far more experienced at solving certain architectural problems than we humans ever could be,” Kay said.
The researchers believe that the slime mold-inspired model can also be used to generate efficient freight and energy networks.
Termite Mounds and Self-Cooling Buildings
Termites build and live in mounds with sophisticated ventilation systems. Although the temperature outside may fluctuate, the insects maintain and regulate the temperature and humidity inside using a network of tunnels, channels and air chambers that allow circulation throughout the structure.
Termites in Zimbabwe that live in giant mounds keep temperatures at 87°F to grow the fungus they eat. Although the temperatures outside change from 35°F at night to 104°F during the day, the termites keep the temperature stable by constantly opening and closing a series of heating and cooling vents.
Zimbabwean architect Mick Pearce was inspired by the workings in termite mounds when he designed the Eastgate Center, a shopping center and office block in Harare, Zimbabwe. Instead of relying on air conditioning systems for regulating temperature, the building has a ventilation system that uses convection currents to allow fresh air to circulate naturally. As a result, Eastgate is far more cost effective compared with traditional buildings.
“Eastgate uses 35% less total energy than the average consumption of six other conventional buildings with full HVAC in Harare. The saving on capital cost compared with full HVAC was 10% of total building cost,” reads Pearce’s website. “During the frequent shutdowns of mains power, or of HVAC due to poor maintenance in the other buildings, Eastgate continues to operate within acceptable comfort levels with its system running by natural convection.”
Squid Skin and Clothing that Adjusts to Temperatures
Squids have a complex system of layers on their skin that work together to manipulate light and change their color and pattern. Organs known as chromatophores that are present in some layers of squid skin expand and contract with muscle action to change how these cephalopods transmit and reflect visible light.
Alon Gorodetsky, from University of California, Irvine, and colleagues mimicked how chromatophores work to create a new method of manufacturing materials that can adapt to changing environmental conditions. When worn, the material would allow the wearer to maintain a comfortable body temperature.
Unlike the chromatophores that manipulate visible light, the material regulates infrared radiation, which the human body releases as heat. The material is made of polymer covered with copper islands that separate when stretched, changing the manner the material transmits and reflects infrared light.
Aside from having thermoregulatory features, the material is also washable, breathable and suitable for integration into fabric. It can be used to create clothing that can adjust to the wearer’s temperature needs.
“Our advanced composite material now opens opportunities for most wearable applications but may be particularly suited for cold weather clothing like ski jackets, thermal socks, insulated gloves, and winter hats,” said Gorodetsky.
Spider Web and Unbreakable Phone Screens
Spider webs are lightweight but are stronger than steel. They also have the capacity to absorb large amounts of energy before they break.
Frederick Gosselin, from Polytechnique Montreal, and colleagues drew inspiration from the resilient properties of the spider web to develop a plastic webbing method for creating materials that can absorb up to 96% of impact energy.
“A spider web can resist the impact of an insect colliding with it, due to its capacity to deform via sacrificial links at the molecular level, within silk proteins themselves,” said Gosselin.
The researchers used a 3D printer and polycarbonate material to “weave” two sets of fiber, the second printed perpendicularly to the first, creating circles that eventually form a series of loops.
Similar to the structures found in spider webs, the loops turn into sacrificial links that give the fiber additional strength. Once impact occurs, these sacrificial links absorb energy and break to maintain the overall integrity of the material.
Gosselin and colleagues believe that the innovation could lead to the production of a new breed of bullet-proof glasses and more durable plastic protective smartphone screens.
