THESE WINGS CAN MAKE LIFE MORE BEAUTIFUL!
From insects to birds, here are some of the ways biomimicry is being used to create new tech from wings.
BIONICOPTER
Hovering is rare in the animal world. Only a few species can do it. A dragonfly is one who can. Since hovering can be an advantageous capability, engineers have tried to mimic the dragonfly.
The BionicOpter, a new robot designed by Festo, does the job beautifully. It can hover, glide without beating its wings, and fly in all directions.
The robot is larger than a normal dragonfly, with a length of 19 inches and a wingspan of 27 inches. The wings are made of foil and carbon fiber. Each wing has its own motor to ensure that it can operate independently, with 90-degree mobility, during complex maneuvers.
The BionicOpter weighs only 175 grams.
BLUE MORPHO BUTTERFLY WINGS
Butterfly wings can help stop crime!
Nanotech, a security company specializing in anti-counterfeiting, is currently making strides to improve on the design of money using a biomimicry method created by the Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. It is based the wing design of the Blue Morpho Butterfly.
When light strikes the back of the wings of the Blue Morpho, it is reflected by tiny holes in the scales on the back of the butterfly, causing it to shimmer and change color.
Such a process could be applied to monetary notes or other materials. Since the process occurs on such a small scale, it would be very difficult and costly to counterfeit.
Check out this video from Nanotech discussing the new technology.
And the Blue Morpho can help keep things dry that need to stay dry.
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, found that the butterfly’s wings repel moisture and can speed drying rates by 40%. In fact, it is said to be the most waterproof material ever. They recently published the results of their study of the Blue Morpho wing in Nature.
The method works by using ridges to decrease the surface area of water droplets. When water strikes the wings, or this material, it is broken up by the ridges and tends to roll off instead of sinking in.
This development shows great promise for the apparel industry as well as surfaces in many applications.
Bird wings can help save the world.
Bird wings hold many secrets and special qualities that we can learn from. For example, they are extremely strong and lightweight, owing to the honeycomb structure of their bones.
FLYCORE
Bird wings can help save the world.
Bird wings hold many secrets and special qualities that we can learn from. For example, they are extremely strong and lightweight, owing to the honeycomb structure of their bones.
While the aerospace industry has been employing this structure in their designs since the mid1900s, honeycombs are complex and expensive to produce.
Now, Glenn Hibbard and Brent Cordner of the University of Toronto have delivered “Flycore,” a material which uses recycled plastics and mimics the bone density and structure of bird wings, manufactured with a single-step process.
This new technology may help to reduce energy consumption and increase emissions reduction.
This technology embodies one of the great potentials of materials science and engineering – the ability to drastically impact global sustainability and energy efforts,” said Uwe Erb, Professor & Acting Chair.
BACTERIA RESISTANT DRAGONFLY WINGS
Dragonflies can reduce our dependence on antibiotics!
According to researchers from Swinburne University in a study recently published in Nature Communications, dragonfly wings are coated in tiny spikes. So tiny, they can only be viewed under a high powered electron microscope. And so tiny, they are capable of popping the cells of bacteria.
That means, any surface with tiny spikes like this can act as a bacteria resistant surface. That’s good news! We think dragonflies are way more beautiful to behold than antibiotics any day!
Read more about Beautiful Wings, as it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including See the Invisible Beauty of Little Wings.
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