Nature has had a long time to get things right and as efficiently as possible. For instance, an intact grass prairie ecosystem has adapted to survive perfectly in any varying conditions where it exists. In this area of Colorado, the short grass prairie adapted to have 200 species of grasses and Forbs that would thrive in any climatic changes over the decades. In a wet decade, the species that thrived in wet conditions would dominate the landscape while the others would remain more dormant. In arid conditions the opposite would occur. No matter the conditions, the prairie would provide abundant grazing opportunities for a plethora of grazing animals that fed the animal food chain. The system was whole and in harmony with everything around it.
As we move forward in transforming humanity to live sustainably, nature provides perfect examples of how things and systems can work. Earlier in the blog I talked about economics and how the natural world works with energy as a currency to drive the world. The biggest problem we face is not the innovations that can transform our lifestyle and mindset, but our addiction to the heat-beat-treat technology that still runs the world. If you have ever had someone tell you how to do something different from the way you have done it all your life you will understand what I mean. Yes, some of the innovations inspired by nature are on the market, but don’t expect them to be at your local discount store any time soon. Changing the system is going to take a little time and also a lot of commitment from early adopters to help innovators move these new generation products into a repressive market addicted to old ways. Having said that, there is good research going onto develop biomimetic products.
If you have ever used glue, you probably noticed that it uses noxious or toxic chemicals to keep the glue liquid until it is used – glue sniffing exists for a reason – the instructions always warn about the vapors from the solvents used in the glue. If you need a glue to work underwater, you will need even stronger solvents that only seem to work for a short time before the glue breaks down. Now imagine a glue that you could apply in a cold, saline, aqueous environment that lasts indefinitely until you apply a releaser that counteracts the glue. Almost sounds too good to be true. Anyone who lives by the sea has seen this glue being used all the time. Mussels and barnacles have this ability to adhere to any surface and withstand the seas rough wave action. If you have ever scraped barnacles off a surface you will know just how tenaciously they attach. Yet, if the barnacle needs to detach it can do so within seconds. And it does it all in a salty, cold, wet environment with losing adhesion. Purdue University, Chemistry & Materials Engineering Professor Jonathan Wilker’s research team, has found that Shellfish like barnacles and mussels use cross-linked protein complexes to adhere themselves to surfaces. Hen these shellfish need to detach they simply secret another protein that deactivates the protein glue. Think of how good that would be to redo kitchen or bathroom tiles.
I keep reading of how massive heatwaves are raging all around the world during the summer in countries in both hemispheres. Besides all the brush and forest fires ensuing from the extremes of heat, the amount of electricity used to cool building with air-conditioning is also escalating. Yet, we have a natural example of cooling that uses no artificial systems to keep an enclosed system cool even during the extreme heat of a baking summers day. Long called a pest, the termite creates a large tall structure that uses specifically placed air pockets within a termite tower that causes convection currents to circulate naturally at the temperatures heat up outside the tower – no fans or artificial cooling needed. This system was put into practice in a shopping center in Zimbabwe alongside an air-conditioned system. While there is a recognized 10% increase in efficiency from regular air conditioning, it is still a way’s off from using just natural cooling alone. Still it is showing promise that simply redesigning how air flows in a building can save energy and keeps buildings cooler in the worst summer.
There may be more than 400 species of shark in the world but only about a dozen species have been known to attack and create problems for humans. One thing they nearly all share is their unusual skin. It is comprised of a layer of dermal-ventricles, which act like small teeth that create low-pressure zones over the area of the skin. If you have ever felt a shark’s skin, it is smooth in direction of flow but as rough as sandpaper in the other (even used as that in many coastal countries in times past). What makes these denticles and lowered pressure zones great is that they act to ‘pull’ the shark forward thereby reducing drag. In the 2008 Olympics, many top swimmers used a new fabric made with this idea (Sharkskin) to win as many as 98% of the medals. The fabric has since been banned since it gives unfair advantage, but the point is that the technology has been shown to work! Part of innovation is being ingenious enough to apply the idea to other areas outside of the original application. The sharkskin has also been shown to fend of the ability of other organisms to attach to this surface, including micro-organisms. The potential for use in the medical services to inhibit cross-contamination of sterile areas is high. The U.S. Navy is now using a product called ‘sharklet’ to inhibit marine growth, including barnacles, from the hulls of all their water craft.
I could go on and on with the innovations that are occurring – just google Biomimicry and whatever connection is of interest to find more on this fascinating new bio-engineering transformation. It’s cheaper to study something we know already works and adapt the findings rather than spend inordinate amounts of money to just ultimately reinvent the wheel that nature figured out a billion years earlier.
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