Humanity faces unprecedented engineering challenges if it is to survive. Solutions to these challenges await discovery in plants, animals and microbes, but they could be lost forever if we don’t preserve the rich diversity of life on Earth.
The UN Biodiversity Conference, COP15, is scheduled to end on December 19. This weekend, we’ll look at some of the ways that humanity depends on biodiversity for a healthy and prosperous global ecosystem.
When a species goes extinct, it takes with it all the physical, chemical, biological, and behavioral attributes that have been selected for that species, after being tested and retested in countless evolutionary experiments over many thousands, and perhaps millions, of years. years of evolution.
These include designs for heating, cooling, and ventilation; for being able to move most effectively and efficiently through water or air; to produce and store energy; for manufacturing the most resistant, light, biodegradable and recyclable materials; and for many, many other functions essential to life.
The value of nature is not limited to human applications, but the loss of nature and biodiversity also represents significant losses to human potential.
These are some examples of the ways in which nature has inspired engineering solutions.
Professor Akira Obata designed micro wind turbines that rotate and generate electricity at wind speeds of up to 3 km/h, inspired by the wings of dragonflies.dragonfly path
Taking inspiration from the energy efficiency of dragonfly wings, particularly at low wind speeds, Professor Akira Obata, formerly of Japan’s Nippon Bunri University, designed corrugated blades for micro wind turbines that rotate and generate electricity at such low wind speeds. like 3 km/h.
Most wind turbines malfunction when speeds are less than 10 km/h; some will not rotate at all. By lowering the minimum wind speed requirements, these micro wind turbines can harness wind power in easily accessible locations like rooftops and balconies, and don’t need expensive towers to capture the higher speed winds found at higher elevations.
By studying and understanding the aerodynamics of dragonfly flight, Obata was able to manufacture inexpensive, lightweight, stable, and efficient micro wind turbines that can be used in off-grid locations in developing countries.
What is blacker than black?
Some butterflies, birds, and spiders have evolved super-black coloration achieved by a variety of complex light-harvesting mechanisms that could lead to new energy-efficient designs for solar harvesting.
The micro and nanostructures of surfaces largely determine their light absorption or reflection properties. Understanding not only the composition of the pigments involved, but also the fine structure and physics of these surfaces, can be useful in designing more energy efficient systems for heating and cooling buildings, and more productive solar energy collectors.
The Namib desert beetle (genus Stenocara) basks in the mist. Namibia.‘Basking in the Fog’
Two species of beetles actively collect water from fog with a sequence of behaviors called “fog basking.” Late at night, before the nightly mist that gathers in the coastal sections of the Namib desert, the beetles emerge from the sand and climb up the dunes to position themselves in the path of the mist.
Leaning their bodies forward as they gaze into the mist, they collect moisture on their backs, which are made of hardened forewings called elytra that cover and protect their hindwings, which are used for flight.
Small water droplets in the mist collect there, coalesce to form larger droplets which, by the force of gravity, travel down the hydrophobic (i.e. water-repelling) surfaces into the beetles’ mouths.
With the WHO estimating that half the world’s population will be living in water-scarce environments by 2025, the specific chemistry and structure of the hydrophobic surfaces found on Namib beetles have generated enormous scientific interest for their potential applications. human.
Birds and Fossil Fuels
Soaring and soaring birds are masters of aerodynamic efficiency and their wingtip feather design inspired engineers to add small upturned ‘winglets’ that reduce drag caused by vortices to the wingtips of the airplanes.
By copying this wingtip design, commercial airlines have saved 10 billion gallons of fuel, reducing their CO2 emissions by 105 million tons per year.
To sequester this amount of carbon, around 16 million hectares of trees would need to be planted each year, an area larger than the territory of Norway or Japan.
Humpback whales feed in a bay in Antarctica.Extinction is not a foregone conclusion
The waste of extinction is perhaps best highlighted by the near extinction of the humpback whale.
Overhunting nearly wiped out these gigantic creatures, among the largest to ever live on the planet, and the humpback whale population dwindled to just 5,000 in 1966.
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Conservation organizations and scientists sparked a huge public and political outcry and humpback whales rebounded to an estimated 80,000 today. The uniquely shaped humpback whale has bumpy ‘tubers’ on the front of its flippers that allow these giants to maneuver with extraordinary agility.
The tubercles give whales a hydrodynamic advantage: they minimize drag, improve their ability to keep moving and, crucially when attacking their prey, allow them to turn at sharper angles. Among other applications, they have inspired engineers to make some of the most efficient industrial fan blades and wind power generators. If humpback whales had gone extinct, we may never have been able to take advantage of the tubercle design.
The extraordinary organisms featured above, along with the sustainable engineering designs they have inspired, make a compelling case for why we should preserve biodiversity.
The organisms that create the support systems make all life on Earth possible, including human life: millions of species are at risk, but losing even a single species can have enormous negative consequences for humanity.
The story is based on the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) brochure, How sustainable engineering solutions depend on biodiversity
