biology design inspiration from nature

1. Submitted By: PRIYA KUMARI
XII- A
ROLL NO:
BIOLOGY
INVESTIGATORY
PROJECT

2. This is to certify that PRIYA KUMARI, student of class
XII-A has successfully completed the research on
the topic ‘Biomimcry’ under the guidance of Mrs.
ANITHA SARMA ( Subject Teacher ) during the
session 2014-15 in partial fulfilment of Biology
practical examination conducted by AISSCE, New
Delhi.
Signature of external
Signature of Biology
examiner
teacher
Signature of Principal

3. I wish to express my deep gratitude and sincere
thanks to the Principal, Mrs. Sushma Misar , for
her encouragement and for all the facilities that
she provided for this project work.
I extend my hearty thanks to Mrs. Anitha Sarma ,
Biology teacher ,who guided me to the successful
completion of this project. I take this opportunity
to express my deep sense of gratitude for her
invaluable guidance, constant encouragement ,
immense motivation , which has sustained my
efforts at all the stages of this project work…
I also thank Mr. Uttarchand, Lab Assistant who
helped me get along with this project.
I can’t forgot to offer my sincere thanks to parents
and also to my classmates who helped me to
carry out this project work successful and for
their valuable advice and support , which I
received from them time to time….
Priya Kumari
Acknowledgement

4. Contents
Biomimicry
1. Introduction
2. Examples Of Biomimicry
• Velcro
• Ultracane
• Sleek Shark Skin
• Diatoms As Cheap Solar Cell
• Spider Silk as strong tape
• Beetles show the way to water
conservation
• Gecko's Grip and adhesives
3.Some future applications having
potential

5. Biomimicry : INTRODUCTION
BRIEF HISTORY
When Janine Benyus popularized the term “biomimicry” in
her seminal book Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by
Nature (1997), she admits she had no idea it would
galvanize an entire movement.
As interest in biomimicry escalated, it soon became clear that
an institute dedicated to biomimicry education was
needed. In 2005, Bryony Schwan and Janine Benyus co-
founded the Biomimicry Institute.
at macro and nanoscales.
DEFINATION
Biomimetics or biomimicry is the imitation of the models,
systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving
complex human problems.
Living organisms have evolved well-adapted structures and
materials over geological time through natural selection.
Biomimetics has given rise to new technologies inspired by
biological solutions at macro and nanoscales.

6. Velcro is ubiquitous these days, found on everything
from astronaut suits to children's shoes. The
sticky material was actually inspired by the way
plant burrs stick to dog hair. In 1941, the Swiss
engineer George de Mestral looked at the burrs
under a microscope and noticed they contained
hundreds of tiny hooks that could catch on loops
of hair or clothing. He developed a material
based on this and called it Velcro, from the
French words "velours," meaning velvet, and
"crochet," meaning hook.

7. • It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke:
A brain expert, a bat biologist, and an
engineer walk into a cafeteria. But that's
exactly what happened when a casual
meeting of the minds at England's Leeds
University led to the invention of the
Ultracane, a walking stick for the blind
that vibrates as it approaches objects.
• The cane works using echolocation, the
same sensory system that bats use to
map out their environments. It lets off
60,000 ultrasonic pulses per second and
then listens for them to bounce back.
When some return faster than others,
that indicates a nearby object, which
causes the cane's handle to vibrate.
Using this technique, the cane not only
"sees"•objects on the ground, such as
trash cans and fire hydrants, but also
senses things above, such as low-
hanging signs and tree branches. And
because the cane's output and feedback
are silent, people using it can still hear
everything going on around them.
Although the Ultracane hasn't
experienced ultra-stellar sales, several
companies in the United States and New
Zealand are currently trying to figure out
how to market similar gadgets using the
same bat-inspired technology.

8. 1. Sharks, the stealthy predators of the deep, may
have a thing or two to teach the Indian Navy.
Shark skin contains sleek scales that resemble
tiny teeth and are made of a tough material
called dentin. The scales create tiny vortices in
the water that reduce drag, studies have shown.
Shark skin also prevents barnacles and other
organisms from glomming on, something called
Bio-fouling (those sticky creatures cost the
Navy at least $50 million each year, one Navy
scientist estimated.) The scales are constantly in
flux, limiting the surface area to which marine
hitchhikers can attach.
2. Researchers in Germany have developed a
synthetic shark skin made of elastic silicone that
reduces bio-fouling by 67 percent in tests. The
U.S. Navy has funded work to develop similar

9. Optical and photonic properties of diatom silica with unique
optical and photonic properties is a link toward cheap optical
devices and solar cells.

10. Diatom Nanotechnology :Nature
Inspired Technology
Diatoms are unicellular eukaryotic photosynthetic algae present
in every aquatic environments, with enormous ecological
importance on this planet and an unique optical, photonic,
transport, tribological and mechanical properties generated by
pore structures and patterns of their protective silica wall.
Diatom nanotechnology is recently emerged as a new
interdisciplinary area. Diatoms are called as Nature's unique
nanofabrication factories able to produce 3-d silica structure for
several minutes with extraordinary diversity of patterns and
structures from nano to micron scale structures and fascinating
properties. In following years we used diatom silica for
template synthesis of 2-d and 3-d metal and polymer structures
with complex morphologies and unique optical properties for
applications in optics and biosenising. Our research is focused
on transforming of cheap diatom silica into new valuable
nanomaterials and their composites for diverse applications
including advanced water purification, extraction of precious
and heavy metals, catalysis, drug delivery, solar cells and pest
control.

11. 5.Spider Silk as strong
tape
• Even outside Spider-Man comic
books, Spider Silk is known to be
one of nature's strongest materials —
five times stronger than steel by
weight. Silk is both stretchy and
lightweight. It must be sticky in some
places to catch prey, and not sticky in
others so that the spider can scuttle
across it.
• Scientists have created a medical
product that mimics this property: a
flexible tape that can be peeled off a
wound without damaging the tissue
underneath. The sticky material could
be useful for attaching tubes or
sensors to the delicate skin of
newborns and the elderly. Traditional
medical tape is made by applying a
sticky substance onto a thin backing
material.
• To make the silk-inspired tape,
researchers applied a silicon-based
film to the backing material first, and
used a laser to etch a grid pattern
onto the silicon. The grid makes some
parts of the material sticky and other
parts non-sticky, just like a spider's
web.

13. 6. Beetles show the way to
water conservation
• The tiny Namib Desert beetle
has a clever way of surviving in
its parched habitat: It collects
water by condensing fog into
droplets on the ridges of its
back.
• Researchers from the
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology have developed a
bumpy material made out of
glass and plastic that mimics
the beetle's back. That
material could be used to
collect water or other liquids,
make a "lab on a chip" or build
cooling devices, scientists said.
U.S. military officials think the
material could even be useful
for cleaning up toxic spills.

14. 7.Gecko's Grip
and adhesive
Geckos can walk along walls and
ceilings, because their feet
contain dense clumps of
projections, each thinner than
a human hair, that end in tufts
of tiny fibres called spatulae. A
new adhesive is under
development that mimics how
gecko feet stick to and release
from a surface. Made of
millions of plastic fibers, the
adhesive can support almost a
pound of weight, and the
material gets even stronger
with use. Possible applications
include climbing equipment
and medical devices.

15. Organism
mimicked
Ability
mimicked
Application
1.Plant burs Hooks that
catch on loop
of hair
Velcro
2.Bat Echolocation Ultracane for
visually
impaired
3.Shark
(skin)
Sleek scales
that prevent
barnacle
growth
(biofouling)
Making outer
surface of
ship,
submarine
dirt resistant
4.Diatoms Optical And
Photonic
Properties
Solar Cell
5.Spider(spid
er silk)
Strong ,
elastic silk
making
Medical tape
which
protects the
underlying
tissue
onpeeling off.

16. Bibliography :
1. biomimicry.net
2. www.livescience.com
3.Photos from Google images.
4. www.wikipedia.com
5. Newspaper clipping from THE
TIMES OF INDIA
3.Some
future applications having
potential