한국
中国
For the past several weeks, I’ve been teaching a class at the University of California, Berkeley, titled “How Would Nature Do That?” The course explores the emerging field of biomimicry and the ways in which nature-inspired innovation is driving technological change.
(Full disclosure: The class is being sponsored this semester by QMT, whose mirasol display technology was inspired by the way light reflects off a butterfly’s wings.)
To get a first-hand look at some of the principles we’ve been studying, our class recently visited Duxbury Reef, a marine-protected shoreline about an hour north of San Francisco. The area is one of my favorite places to take students because it is home to a diverse group of organisms and offers many opportunities to observe some of the unique survival strategies found in nature.
About a dozen of us spent several hours exploring the coastline; in the process, we examined several examples of natural behaviors with business and product applications, two of which are described below.
Keyhole limpet: The limpet is a shallow, cone-shaped creature that attaches to rocks near the shore and takes advantage of a physical phenomenon known as the Bernoulli principle to draw nutrients from the water.
In this phenomenon the faster water moving across the hole at the top of the limpet creates a slight drop in pressure inside the limpet’s shell. This drop in pressure “sucks” water from the base of the limpet up through the organism and allows the limpet to filter feed on the nutrients.
We call this “surfing for free”; many organisms take advantage of existing physical forces to optimize their metabolic pathways. This action is also described by Duke University professor Steven Vogel in his book “Cats’ Paws and Catapults: Mechanical Worlds of Nature and People.” Professor Vogel recently was a guest lecturer in our class (more on that in a later post).
Byssus (or beard of the mussel): The mussel will lay out its foot over a surface, dome its shape to create a vacuum space and then inject liquid keratin and polyphenolic proteins into the space. The mixture gels into a foam state and the threads are varnished over with a hard surface. The animal uses this process to anchor itself. This is a heavily studied bio adhesive, currently used in some plywood products and biomedical applications. Researchers at the University of Chicago recently patented a synthetic formula for it. This particular shot showing anchor points of the byssal threads illustrates the strategy of building from the bottom up and creating strength from a combined array of individual components, much as cables are stronger than individual wires on the Golden Gate Bridge.
In this class, not only are we studying the natural processes that have inspired innovation, we’ll be innovating ourselves. Following the field trip, students were asked to choose an organism, behavior or strategy that intrigued them that day and devise an application for it. They were given a week to research the organism and create a short presentation. This talk was much like an elevator pitch: what could convince a business executive to invest $1 million in a given idea? After these presentations, students exchanged papers and were tasked to review their peer’s work and make a second, analytical report to the same imaginary CEO.
Students have a few more weeks to explore a final project application, but the process already has been fascinating to watch. If nothing else, it has proven nature-inspired ideas are abundant if we only take the time to look.
Below, I’ve attached a few more photos from the field trip. I look forward to sharing some of the final projects.
Tom McKeag teaches bio-inspired design to undergraduate students at the California College of the Arts and to graduate students at the University of California, Berkeley. He’s also the founder and president of BioDreamMachine, a nonprofit educational institute that brings bio-inspired design and science education to K-12 schools.