Mother Nature is still the world’s greatest architect and designer. Since the dawn of time, mankind tried to replicate animals and plants most basic of functions. From the first flight by the Wright brothers in 1903 to scientists trying to duplicate the complexities of the human brain, Nature will never cease to inspire us.

I have listed below 5 recent technologies that were inspired by the ever evolving wonders of life. Some of them we use so often we never even think about where it comes from.

Speedo Fast Skin Shark Suit

Speedo spent 4 years researching and studying shark skin in order to develop this suit. Through scientific research, it was discovered that thousands of tiny “teeth” cover the surface of a shark’s skin and the shape and positioning of these vary across the body to manage the flow of water.

By mimicking this evolutionary pattern they developped a full bodyskin with different fabrics and textures on different parts of the male and female bodies, and even targeted to specific swimming strokes.

This revolution improved overall performances by 4% over any other available product. When the first model was introduced in 2000, 83% of the swimming medals won were by swimmers wearing the suit. The newest iteration called the LZR Racer®, gave Michael Phelps 8 gold medals in 2008.

Mercedes-Benz Bionic Car

To develop the bionic car, the engineers at the Mercedes-Benz Technology Centre and the DaimlerChrysler Research department have for the first time turned their attention towards nature. They based their design on the body shape of a boxfish, a cube-shaped fish found in tropical marine habitats.

Despite being boxy and cube-shaped , the boxfish is in fact outstandingly streamlined and therefore represents an aerodynamic ideal. In order to use this great potential, designers first created a 1:4 car model whose shape was substantially based on the boxfish. Tests in the wind tunnel generated a drag coefficient of 0.095, a result previously unheard of in automotive engineering.

The fully functioning and roadworthy bionic compact car has a drag coefficient value of just 0.19, making it one of the most aerodynamically efficient in this size category. This technological breakthrough permits 20 percent lower fuel consumption.

DaimlerChrysler researchers also examined the bionic structure of the boxfixh, whose skin consists of numerous hexagonal, bony plates. This structure provides maximum strength with minimal weight. They transferred this principle to the Mercedes-Benz bionic car and achieved up to 40 percent more rigidity. If the whole car was made according to this principle, one third of the weight could be shaved without losing any strength.

Gecko Tape

The toes of the gecko evolved in such a way that allows them to adhere to most surfaces without the use of liquids or surface tension. Every square millimeter of a gecko’s footpad contains about 14,000 hair-like structure, called setae. Those create a Van der Waals attraction to the surface the little creature walks on.

By duplicating this phenomenon, scientists are developping a material that uses nanoscopic hairs to cling to sheer surfaces. They hope one day to be able to create a full body suit using this material. Enabling the wearer to cling to walls or even walk accross ceilings, Spider Man style!

Velcro

Everybody knows Velcro, we all used it at one point in our lives. But do you know how it was invented?

Velcro came about in 1948 from a Swiss engineer, George de Mestral, after he noticed how the hooks of the plant burrs stuck in the fur of his dog.

Observation of this under a microscope showed numerous tiny “hooks” that belonged to the plant. Shortly after his invention, he was disappointed that fashion designers were not interested to adopt his product. Most likely because of that ripping sound.

In fact, amongs the first users of the technology was the NASA, who sent Velcro to the moon on astronaut’s boots, suits and inside helmets as nose scratchers.

Turbine Blades

The flippers of a humpback whale are incredibly efficient, allowing to propel such a large animal despite its massive size is no small feat. Using a wind tunnel, researchers have found that said flipper is a more efficient wing design than the current model used on airplanes by the aeronautics industry.

The tubercles (bumps) of the flippers are the reason for this hydrodynamic efficiency. This newly discovered feature was incorporated on Wind Turbine blades and it was observed that they produce more energy and less noise at lower speeds compared to their normal smooth edged counterparts. The improvement is almost two folds, the newly designed turbines generating the same amount of power at 10 miles per hour that conventional turbines generate at 17 miles per hour.

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There you have it, nature will always trumps us. And that was only 5 exemples, there are litterally hundreds of them! Do you know of any other product that was inspired by nature? Let me know in the comments.