Looking for answers in Nature

Engineers are in the business of finding solutions to problems. It is their responsibility to discover strategies to attain certain goals. The issue might be figuring out how to construct a tower that can withstand hurricane-force winds. It might also be to find a way to deliver a particular dose of medication to a single cell in the human body.

Engineers frequently look to nature to discover whether there is a solution to the challenge they are now facing. They must not only identify the answer, but also be able to investigate, iterate, duplicate or improve and redesign it, so that we can benefit from it. This method is referred to as biomimetics. In the end, the engineer's invention resembles the structure or function of a living creature.The end outcome might be breathtaking or mundane.

However, even the most basic inventions would not have been possible if engineers had not paid close attention to how things work in nature. I will like to critically look at five ways nature has influenced the technology we use, in no particular order.

Artificial Intelligence

For decades, the phrase "artificial intelligence" has been thrown around. Computers used to be merely powerful devices that could crunch huge numbers but couldn't think for themselves. Only precise instructions could be followed by a computer.

Engineers and computer scientists are currently attempting to make the transition from computing to thinking. They've made some headway. In 2008, scientists utilized the BlueGene L supercomputer to model the brain of a mouse. That may appear simple, but a brain, even one belonging to a virtual mouse, is extremely complex. The simulation was so sophisticated that the powerful computer could only execute it in spurts of 10 seconds [source: https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6600965.stm].

Cornell researchers developed a computer algorithm in 2009 that could infer the fundamental principles of motion by studying the motions of a pendulum. The application employed a genetic algorithm to derive the basic rules of physics from a series of data.

We may see machines capable of tackling complicated technical challenges in the future. We could even get to the stage where computers can construct ever more powerful equipment. How's that for introspection?

Invading cancer cells

Teams of engineers, computer scientists, and doctors are working on cell-by-cell therapies to heal cancer and other disorders. One approach they're working on includes developing nanoscale delivery systems. They are creating medicinal nanoparticles, which are things no larger than 100 nanometers in diameter. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter in length. In fact, the nanoscale is so tiny that seeing nanoparticles with a light microscope is impossible.The concept is simple: develop a drug-delivery particle that can locate a cancer cell, penetrate it, and deliver medication precisely where it is needed. Doctors seek to remove the illness while avoiding negative effects by targeting just cancer cells. Healthy cells would not be harmed.

This is more difficult than it appears. However, these teams have a natural model to study in order to create nanoparticles: viruses. Viruses are only a few nanometers long and have the ability to seek out certain types of cells before multiplying. Researchers seek to develop nanoparticles that imitate this feature.

Sticking to the Walls

Biomimetic design is where nature inspires a designer / scientist / engineer, to design a product. Sometimes a designer / scientist will look at the way nature has solved a problem through evolution and then he / she will apply it to a design problem.

Man has been looking for the perfect technique to attach something to something else since the beginning of time. This may have included pounding a huge spike through the hide of a mammoth to make the cave abode a little less drafty in ancient times. Engineers nowadays search for inspiration in plants with burrs or critters like the gecko.

In 1941, Swiss engineer Georges de Mestral was plucking burrs out of his clothes and his dog's fur. He examined a burr under a microscope and discovered microscopic barbs that allowed it to cling to passing critters. The developer had an ingenious plan: make a material that utilised these small barbs as a fastening method.?This material is now known as Velcro [source: Stephens].

Then there's Gecko Tape, a substance that clings to sheer surfaces by using nanoscopic hairs. The hairs are similar to those seen on geckos' feet. Scientists may one day be able to manufacture a full outfit out of this material. The wearer of the garment would be able to scale walls and maybe even walk across ceilings. We might be able to contact our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man soon.

Navigating Autonomously

There will be robots in the future. Whether they would pander to our every need or come after us in groups. It is yet to be seen. In any case, autonomous navigation is a characteristic that robots will require to reach their full potential.

Most robots require either a pre-programmed route or merely respond to their surroundings when they face an impediment. Few people can navigate from one location to another on their own. Some engineers are attempting to solve this issue by studying ants. Cataglyphis is a kind of ant found in the Sahara Desert. The Cataglyphis, unlike other ants, does not rely on pheromone trails to navigate its environment.

The ants, according to scientists, utilize a combination of visual piloting, route integration, and methodical search [source: M?ller et al.]. Engineers think that by learning more about how species like the Cataglyphis travel, they may be able to construct robots with comparable skills.

Taking Flight

In the year 2000, Walt Disney Pictures produced a new version of "Fantasia." A pod of humpback whales takes flight to the strains of Ottorino Respighi's "The Pines of Rome" in the updated film. While humpback whales are unlikely to fly, the fantastical sequence foreshadowed an actual scientific discovery.

A group of scientists and engineers submitted a scholarly study in the journal Physics of Fluids in May 2004. The crew has created replicas of humpback whale pectoral flippers. Tubercles – the lumps found on a whale's flipper – were added to one model. A smooth surface was employed on another model.

Both models were tested in a wind tunnel at the United States Naval Academy. Their studies revealed that the flipper with tubercles increased lift by 8%. Furthermore, the flipper proved less likely to stall at severe wind angles and generated up to 32% less drag.

Could we see planes with bumpy wings in the near future? It is entirely feasible. Nature has built an efficient mechanism for navigating through fluid environments, according to the team's findings. It may be stupid not to capitalize on these insights.

Hundreds of such examples of nature guiding technical evolution may be found throughout human history. So, the next time you need to tackle a hard technological problem, you might want to start by looking in your own backyard.