The way in which fine hooks on the tips of the individual common burdock seed casings easily catch on the fur of passing animals led to the invention of Velcro. (Photos by Mary Holland)

Assume for a moment that you are an engineer working on a design problem—how to get one material to stick to another. Which would you choose to do, try to come up with a solution yourself by trial and error, or turn to a source that has spent the past 3.8 billion years developing materials that stick to one another? It seems to me that in the interest of time and resources, it would make a lot of sense not to reinvent the wheel. The practice of observing nature and applying what you learn to man-made inventions goes as far back as Leonardo da Vinci and the Wright brothers, but it is now on the front burner. The scope of the challenges scientists and engineers are tackling today is great—energy, food production, and climate control, to name a few. Those engaged in biomimicry feel it is important to enlist all the help they can get in solving these problems, particularly from the outdoor laboratory that surrounds us with time-tested, sustainable solutions.

Take, for instance, the invention of Velcro, a fastening material consisting of hooks and loops, considered by many to be the earliest and most successful of all the man-made inventions based on nature’s architecture. In 1941 George de Mestral designed this material by observing how hooks on the fruits of plants such as stickyweed (Galium aparine) and burdock (Arctium sp.) perform an invaluable service for the plant; they catch easily on the passing coat of an animal and in so doing distribute the seeds within the fruit far from the parent plant, where competition for sun, water, and nutrients is not as severe.

The observation of tree frogs climbing vertically without falling thanks to their adhesive toe pads led to the invention of tire treads. Shown here is a gray tree frog.

Several designs inspired by nature are described in an article, “Biomimetics: the science of imitating nature,” in the magazine Tribology and Lubrication Technology, February 2009, including the treads found on automobile tires. Have you ever wondered why there are grooves in a tire? The pattern on the bottom of a tree frog’s adhesive toe pads is directly responsible for them. The round, disc-like toe pads of this particular kind of frog consist of miniscule columns that come in contact with the surface on which it’s climbing; these are separated by canal-like spaces. When the frog is climbing, water gets squeezed out from the contact the columnar surface has with the surface the frog is climbing on through these channels, thereby making a tight grip by the columns to the substrate possible. In a similar fashion, when a car is being driven on a wet surface, water flows out through the grooves found between the tire treads, allowing increased contact between the treads and the road, which increases the ability of the tire to grip the road.

Also mentioned in the above article is another innovation that originated from observation of the natural world—the material from which competitive swim suits are currently made. A shark’s skin is covered with grooved scales that are parallel to the axis that runs the length of the shark’s body. Experimental research proved that the nonsmooth surface texture of a shark’s skin reduces the friction between it and the water (otherwise known as drag) by 5 to 10 percent. Because of this discovery, competitive swimmers now wear suits with a texture that is not smooth, in order to reduce drag, and as you would expect, these suits have proven to be faster than conventional suits. In addition to reducing the friction between a solid surface and water, this nonsmooth surface also reduces friction with air. A transparent plastic film made with ribs parallel to the direction of flow has been found to reduce aircraft drag by about 8 percent and is effective in saving fuel by about 1.5 percent.

As is evident, both plants and animals inspire scientists and engineers. According to the Biomimicry Institute (www.biomimicryinstitute.org), the lotus plant has leaves that are water repellent. The ability of the lotus leaf to avoid getting wet is due primarily to the presence of tiny bumps on its surface, which are covered with waxy crystals; together these characteristics enable the leaf to repel water, which then runs over the leaf surface, taking with it dust and other particles. This phenomenon is referred to as the “self-cleaning effect.” A paint called Lotusan has been designed which, when applied to the exterior of buildings, allows the outer surface of these buildings to essentially self-clean when it rains, thanks to tiny bumps in the dried paint—no detergent or energy required.

Biomimicry has already contributed significantly to the design of man-made inventions. The study of bat echolocation has led to the design of an “ultracane”—a cane that can detect ultrasonic echoes much as bats do, enabling blind people to navigate and have spatial awareness. Observation of the way in which the cheetah uses its feet to gain speed led to a new and improved foot prosthetic. A desert beetle that collects water that has condensed on its outer wings has inspired the creation of water-harvesting inventions, including sheets of material with a design mimicking the bumps on this beetle’s wings, which may one day be used to cover tents in drought-ridden countries. The use of proteins by conchs to create strong, but lightweight, shells is being studied with the hope of creating a stronger, more lightweight material. The design of gecko feet, which allows geckos to climb upside down and not fall, led to the development of synthetic, nontoxic adhesives. Certain mussels are held to rocks with threads that have evolved to disintegrate in two years; as a result of this observation, scientists are working on inventing packaging that dissolves on cue. The blue mussel’s adhesive thread-like tentacles inspired the invention of a formaldehyde-free wood glue that is used in plywood and particleboard. The architecture of termite mounds promotes a constant internal temperature; builders in Zimbabwe, having observed this phenomenon, constructed a passively cooled building that maintains a relatively constant temperature. By studying the structure of the scales on a butterfly’s wing, scientists have engineered the production of paints, fabrics, and cosmetics that are free of toxic metals and require less energy to manufacture. Research into red seaweed may lead to resistance-free antibiotics. Spider silk, known for its extreme strength, inspired man’s design of ultrastrong wire from fiber that is manufactured without using intense heat, pressure, or toxic chemicals. Plant leaves, so efficient at capturing sunlight and using its energy to manufacture food, may provide great insight into more efficient solar cells. The list of things that nature has to teach us is virtually endless.

Biomimicry is simply a way of taking advantage of 3.8 billion years of research and development by using it to do things in an efficient and environmentally friendly way. As Jane Benyus defines it, biomimicry is simply the conscious emulation of life’s genius. Learning about nature is one thing; learning from nature, another. It’s just a matter of being receptive to the tried and true, sustainable adaptations which have allowed plants and animals to survive. Interestingly, part of their secret seems to be not destroying the very environment which promoted their adaptation. Those species that failed to do this are no longer around, which should, perhaps, give us pause. The next time you watch a slug smoothly glide along the surface of a mushroom, or an earthworm cling tenaciously to the earth while being pulled by a robin, think about what their behavior might have to offer the observant inventor. Nature has much to share, and generously offers its wisdom without patent or price tag.

Naturalist and writer Mary Holland lived in Harvard for many years before moving to Vermont. She can be contacted at mholland@vermontel.net.