本文テキスト
01. Nature’s Wisdom
In the long history of evolution, plants and animals have developed interesting characteristics.
Some of these are better than the advanced technology of today.
Most adhesives that we use do not work well on wet surfaces, but mussels can stick to wet rocks.
Mussels produce a special protein that can stick to surfaces with different characteristics.
Some scientists studied this protein and made adhesives that work well even in water.
Dolphins can swim at a speed of about 40 to 50 kilometers per hour.
This is very fast.
Although scientists are not sure why they can swim so fast, the secret may lie in the shape of their tail fins.
A company in Japan thought that this shape would be useful for washing machines.
Some washing machines have a rotating part at the bottom which creates water flows to wash clothes.
In the new washing machines designed by this company, fins attached to this rotating part are shaped like the tail fin of a dolphin to create strong water flows.
This rotating part also has wrinkles on its surface just like dolphin skin.
These wrinkles reduce the friction with water.
Rose petals collect moisture in the air and create dew drops.
These dew drops do not fall off easily.
Even if someone shakes the rose, the dew drops stay on the petals.
Yet the petals do not get wet since dew drops are half repelled from the surface of the petals.
This is because rose petals have a mixture of smaller and larger dents on their surface.
Dew drops are held in larger dents, but they are repelled from smaller dents.
Scientists mimicked this surface to create a material that can collect water on its surface.
This material may be used in deserts to collect water to be used for agriculture.
More and more scientists are turning to plants and animals for ideas for new technology.
Nature is full of wisdom.