Amazing Technologies Inspired by Nature

• Nature has been a test lab for 3.5 billion years, inspiring innovative solutions.
• Technologies inspired by nature include gecko skin, moth eyes, and spider silk.
• These advancements demonstrate the potential of biomimicry in various fields.

if you want to solve everyday problems there's a test lab that's been running intensive research and development for 3.5 billion years that you could turn to for ingenious solutions. that lab is nature. from spiders webs that may help your bones heal faster to geckos helping us to scale a glass wall and velcro being inspired by an annoying outdoor pest, prepared to be amazed by these top 15 Technologies inspired by Nature. amazing [Music]

number 15 gecko skin
when you think of geckos, you probably think of a talking lizard pitching ukar insurance. but it turns out geckos have also inspired important technological advances. these creatures can seemingly defy gravity, climbing flat surfaces like walls and even hang from one toe. it turns out this ability comes from seai rows of tiny hairs on their feet. these hairs can hold on to any surface using something called a sticky Vander Wols Force, which uses fluctuations in charge distributions between neighboring molecules. scientists have figured out how to use the Vander Wals Force to make everything from a contraption that lets humans climb a sheer glass wall to grippers for space repairs. unfortunately, it still can't get you a better deal on your car insurance; you're on your own with that one.

number 14 moth eyes and solar panels
when scientists at North Carolina University wanted to make thin solar panels more efficient, they had an eye on moth eyes. their panels were often reflecting some light, which made them less efficient. then the scientists noticed that a moth's eyes are extremely efficient, and research showed that this was due to their eyes being non-reflective. they contain tiny micro-structures that funnel light back into the eye. the researchers decided to design synthetic nano structures that mimic the light funneling properties of the moth eyes; these nano structures improved the solar panels' efficiency.

number 13 velcro
if you spend much time hiking outside, you've probably come home covered in birdo burs at some point. these annoying blobs cling to things like clothes and hair, and in 1941 a man named George deestro brought some home as a souvenir from his hunting trip. he noticed how they clung to his own clothing and his dog's fur, and this intrigued him. studying one of the birs under a microscope, he observed it had tiny microscopic simple hooks that allowed it to attach to loops in his socks and his dog's fur. this was mro's light moment, and he spent years doing research and testing hooks and loops of many different materials. eventually, he arrived at the perfect combination: velcro. now that's an idea that's stuck around!

number 12 bats inspired cans
bats are able to navigate by echolocation, emitting ultrasonic waves. the waves bounce back, telling the winged creatures if large objects are nearby. scientists used the same idea to create the ultra cane, a cane for the visually impaired that also uses echolocation. it sends out ultrasonic waves and vibrates to let the user know when large objects are near.

number 11 spider webs
webs in your home might inspire you to invent a new way of running from the room screaming, but they also inspired some scientists to make a super strong adhesive. researchers noticed that the anchor points of spider's webs, where the web attached to something like a wall or tree limb, were extremely strong. after studying the matter further, they realized the spider silk was woven in a particular geometric pattern at the anchor points, lending to its strength. they then tried this with polyurethane using a process called electrospinning to pull the thin filaments of polyurethane in the same geometric pattern. this allowed them to build their own synthetic adhesive, which could prove useful in medicine, say stitching a broken bone together so tightly that it heals much faster, which might be useful after you trip and fall running away from that spiderweb in the corner of your room.

number 10 lobsters and lexid
lobsters see by focusing on a small point; light reflected back to them from that point helps them view their surroundings. in 2007, the US government decided this was worth investigating; they invested millions of dollars developing a technology called lexid, which is based on how lobster eyes work. lexid allows people to see through solid surfaces like wood and even concrete using low-powered x-rays. it's sort of like the lobsters inspired Superman's X-ray vision, but no word on whether you can see everyone's underwear yet.

number 9 birds and bullet trains
if you've been lucky enough to have been on a bullet train, you may have noticed the loud noise it makes emerging from a tunnel. but you wouldn't have noticed if you rode one of the newer ones inspired by birds. in the 1990s, a Japanese engineer named EEG Nakatu noticed how elegantly kingfisher birds dove into the water, barely making a splash. he wondered if he could somehow make bullet trains work the same way. his research on the kingfish's beak led to a new bullet train design that was not only quieter, but also more aerodynamic, making it more energy efficient and allowing it to travel at higher speeds.

number 8 sugary vaccines
a tardigrade may sound like something in an episode of Doctor Who, but it's actually a tiny tough eight-legged creature that lives in water. when taken out of water, they dry out, but they can be reanimated as much as 100 years later. scientists were fascinated and discovered the bugs coat their molecular parts like DNA and proteins in sugar. taking inspiration from this, biotech companies have adapted this process to protect live vaccines so they no longer require refrigeration. you may not think there's anything sweet about getting a jab, but your vaccine may actually have sugar in it.

number 7 termites
we tend to think of termites as tiny bugs that destroy houses, but on the contrary, they've actually inspired a process of building houses to become more energy efficient. termites, when living in their own homes, build mounds that they keep at a nearly constant temperature. although this does vary from day to night, they build in a sort of built-in cooling system for the mounds with vents on the tops and sides. wind blows hot air through the vents and out of the structure at the top, and the termites can control this system by blocking or opening vents. architect Mike Pierce copied the critters' designs when he drew up plans for the Eastgate Center in Zimbabwe. his design pulls cool air from underground, while chimneys on top of the building vent cool air. no word on whether the termites are suing for intellectual property infringement.

number 6 stenar beetle and water collection
you've probably never heard of the stenar beetle, but its system of collecting water from fog could help us all have more drinking water in the future. the beetle lives in the Namibian desert, where there's no fresh water to be found. it survives because it has bumps on the back of its wings. these are like magnets for water, while the beetle's shell is waxy like Teflon, drawing the water from the fog down into the beetle's mouth. using the bug as a model, researchers at MIT have developed water magnet bumps for buildings so that human beings can gather water from fog as well. around the world, more than 20 countries use water collection nets to ring water from the air, so adding these beetle bumps would greatly increase the efficiency of collecting water in this way.

number 5 muscles and bacteria make underwater glue
if you need glue that can work underwater or when wet, you might want to flex your muscles. no, not those muscles, but the kind served in seafood restaurants. scientists have noticed how easily mussels could cling to surfaces underwater like rocks, jetties, and even sea animals. after studying this sticky seafood, they discovered mussels produce a protein that allows them to adhere to even wet surfaces. after synthesizing this protein in a lab, researchers mixed it with proteins produced by E. coli, what the bacteria used to create cre slime. yes, slime is a technical term here. this combination produced a prototype hailed as the strongest bio-produced dive yet. while it would obviously help for things like underwater repair of boats, it may have other applications too, including binding wounds in wet locations.

number 4 galapagos: scientists take a bite out of bacteria in hospitals
the galapagos you may know these if you paid attention to the design of speedo suits Olympic athletes wore at the last summer Olympics. the dles actually helped them move faster through the water. however, the ones on the galapagos are arranged in a particular pattern that keeps bacteria from landing and adhering. a company called sharklet keeps hospitals safer and more sanitary by putting this pattern on surfaces in hospitals to keep bacteria off. a welcome alternative to antibacterial cleansers that tend to encourage antibiotic-resistant bacteria turns out bacteria are even scared of sharks.

number 3 coral and CO2
if you worry about your carbon footprint, you'll be happy to know some organisms in nature want to help keep CO2 out of the air. scientists noticed that coral reefs use carbon as a building block as they build reefs. a company called Cera designed a process modeled after the recipes coral reefs use to build themselves with carbon to create cement. normally, producing cement is not great for a company's carbon footprint; typically, concrete production emits a ton of CO2 for every ton of cement produced. but with Kera's C-inspired model, instead of emitting carbon dioxide, it's actually sequestered in the cement itself.

number 2 Lotus and self-cleaning paint
you may have thought to yourself, I wish I lived in a self-cleaning house. thanks to the lotus flower, you may get a chance one day. lotuses like shark skin have micro-rough patterns on their skin that naturally repel things like dust and dirt. the reason can be seen only under a microscope: the surface, smooth looking to the naked eye, is studded with microscopic nail-like prances that push away particles of dust and dirt. water is a polar molecule with a positive and negative end, and droplets tiptoe over the flower's surface. dirt particles on top of the bumps are pulled into the water droplets as they tiptoe past. so when it rains, the water rushes away everything repelled by the tiny nail-like studs, leaving a pristine surface. this inspired researchers at ipso, a German paint company, to study the lotus's self-cleaning abilities. after 4 years, they developed a house paint with similar properties, which may reduce the need for pressure washing or otherwise cleaning the outside of a house.

number 1 whale flippers
whales are large, unwieldy creatures, but they manage to move around in water with surprising agility despite their size. a company called whale power discovered this was due to their flippers, which are studded with bumps called tubercules along their leading edge. scientists at the company were inspired to put bumps or tubercules on their own products, including fan blades, wind turbines, and irrigation pumps. these bumps make the applications more efficient, just like the whales' flippers. in fact, wind turbines with these tubercules are up to 20% more efficient. another test in a wind tunnel shows flippers with tubercules experienced more than 30% less drag. researchers are even considering adding the bumps to airplane wings to increase lift and reduce drag. the whale's bumpy ride definitely inspired some better technology for humans.

there are literally countless examples we could have used in this video. so would you like to see another? do you have any favorite ways technologies have been inspired by nature? let me know in the comments down below. also, please be sure to like this video and subscribe, clicking that bell icon to never miss a new video. it will help keep you notified when we post a new one. thanks for watching!