Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and for years, a lot of humans have been taking inspiration from animals for virtually everything be it architecture, fashion and whatnot. In the world of engineering, this is otherwise referred to as biomimicry. You might even be surprised by the sheer number of inventions inspired by animal’s behavior and physical characteristics.
Following are some of the greatest examples;
Mosquitoes
Would you believe that surgical needles are inspired from these insects? Scientists used mosquitoes’ biting ability in designing and creating needles that cause less pains.
Engineers and researchers from Kansai University in Japan used mosquitoes to create a minimally invasive, 3-pronged needle design.
Fireflies
LED light bulbs are probably used by many buildings, public places like parks and even at your own home. It is surprising that fireflies are the main inspiration in producing more efficient light bulbs. The lanterns of the bugs have microstructures or asymmetrical microscopic projections which help in releasing light.
And this is used by experts from Penn State which lead them to the idea of adding microstructures to the LED’s surface. Thus, it is allowing more light to escape and make it more efficient while improving light extraction by up to 90%.