Nature has perfected its resilience through evolved design over millions of years. Shaped and tempered by planetary forces and functionality, its adaptations are as near perfect as they are symbiotic to the ecosystem they belong. Every animate and inanimate creation is an exemplar of nature’s exquisite attention to iterative detail. From the simplest of cells to the elaborate organic synthesis of creation, the divine design is mindfully mesmerising. Biomimetics analyses natural systems, materiality and adaptations to solve complex human centric problems with cross-disciplinary organic applications. The biologically inspired solutions are some of the most robust deployments of surface morphology and chemical processes from nano to macro levels of innovation.
Leonardo da Vinci dreamed of human flight and observed bird anatomy closely for inspiration to his early winged propulsion crafts. Centuries later, the Peregrine Falcon that reaches dizzying speeds of 300 km per hour on stoop torpedo dives, became the informed inspiration for Northrop Grumman’s B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber design. Its awesome performance that reaches top speeds of 1,010 km per hour, mimics the aerodynamics of the falcon’s flying efficiency, reducing the drag of the aircraft and minimising radar detection with an unrefuelled trajectory of 11,100 km. Akin to ultra-light falcon feathers that dampen sound for silent dives, the stealth aircraft uses advanced, lightweight material composites and radar-absorbent coatings to remain an undetected ghost in the sky voiding infrared radar signatures.
Japan’s Shinkansen bullet trains are an incredible example of engineers adopting nature’s design in solving complex human challenges associated with sonic booms, by studying the near perfect dives of Kingfisher birds. They swoop down at high speeds entering from one medium (air) to another medium (water) with minimal splash, given the streamlined extended beaks, which are now visually synonymous with the extended beak-like nose cone of bullet trains.
Many times, more intriguing than nature on land, the mighty ocean that wraps planet earth, holds unexplored mysteries, secrets and unimaginable solutions. For instance, horseshoe crabs have remained unchanged for over 445 million years from the Ordovician period before the age of dinosaurs and are often called living fossils. Protected by a hard carapace shell, these primitive creatures are engineered to survive. Very few are aware of its magical powers and how it came to play during Covid 19, the vaccines for which relied on the mighty nine-eyed horseshoe crab’s ancient immune system for billions of doses. Their milky blue blood, laced with copper in their oxygen transporting proteins, is the only known natural source of limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) that can detect contaminant endotoxins.
Pharmaceutical companies puncture the cells in the horseshoe crab’s blue blood to release a chemical called coagulogen. These elements can detect a dangerous bacterial endotoxin even at the minuscule concentration levels of one part per trillion and contain it by forming a gel around it. Discovered back in 1956 by Fred Bang, these gels are capable of trapping the bacterial endotoxins for weeks at room temperature in a cocoon, without killing it. Since 1970, the FDA has required every drug to be tested using limulus amebocyte lysate named after the horseshoe crab (limulus polyphemus). The LAL test applications include quality assurance for intravenous drugs, insulin, vaccines and implantable medical devices like heart valves and orthopedic inserts.
The uniquely perfected Humpback whale fins that propel the giant mammal of the ocean, helped inspire the design of wind turbine blades, increasing lift by 8 per cent and decreasing drag by 32 per cent, spinning to generate renewable energy.
One of the most common ubiquitous adaptations of nature’s design is the humble Velcro – the ultimate fastener of the impossible – rip-roaring past the $2.6 billion global market. From the 1940s when George de Mestral, a Swiss engineer examined the burrs of the burdock plant stuck to his dog hair while hunting, Velcro’s adaptations have since entered every realm of human convenience.
Even the annoying mosquito with its evolved proboscis, which sucks our blood with great efficiency, has offered design solutions that have inspired the three-pronged vaccination needles with enhanced results! From grippy pads of tree-frogs with deep hexagonal grooves enabling tire-tread designs to hydrophobic materials that line fluid bags and rain coats, nature continues to surprise, inspire and teach. Nature’s canvas has evolved over millions of years and the efficiency of its intelligence remains unmatched despite human inventiveness and artificial intelligence. The economic engine that rides on biomimicry largely remains un-recognised and unacknowledged as industrial investment. Biomimetic materials market and bio-inspired product design industry is projected to cross $160 billion by 2035, with sustainable fashion climbing over $60 billion in the coming decade. The pharmaceutical and nutraceutical extracts of ingredients from nature, capped a market value of $30 billion in 2023.
From efficient buildings to yachts, automobiles, shoes, aero planes, sharkskin swimsuits to clothes to water collection systems, nature never tires to needle innovation. The natural neural network of potential resources remains a largely untapped pandora’s box of possibilities that could sustain the inquisitive eternal human spirit to greater resonance with the ultimate designer.
The author is a world-renowned Silicon Valley-based museum designer and author, specialising in adapted biomimetic design elements for organic concept development of smart museums, aquariums, climatoriums and subterranean architecture