Follow-up: what technology can learn from nature

According to researchers at the German Max Planck Institute who conducted the study on this topic, more research is needed on whether animals can predict earthquakes. To conduct this follow-up research, scientists want to take advantage of the Icarus global observing system on the International Space Station.

Predicting earthquakes, however, is a difficult task, as Johann Liuen knows well. He is a professor at the Dutch University of Wageningen, working on a design inspired by vitality. “Seismologists and all kinds of other scientists have been trying for years to develop a model, without any success. I fear that this study will not contribute much to this. This research was conducted by behavioral scientists. Using statistical methods, they try to find out if animal behavior may be an indication On earthquakes. If you look at the preliminary data in the study, they see a trend, but at the same time, the range is too big. There might be a false positive over there. “

Source: Short-term potential earthquake forecasts by monitoring farm animals

The research seems to be missing one major factor, because, according to Van Leuen, it will not really become very interesting unless we know how animals can feel an upcoming earthquake. “Suppose that there is already a relationship between behavior and earthquakes, we still do not know how the underlying mechanism actually works. How do animals capture this? Are they more sensitive to vibrations? Could the smells be emitted from moving the earth’s crust? Or will they discover shifts in Earth’s magnetic field? Pigeons pick up this, which allows them to always find their way home. But I don’t know any physical way to sense upcoming earthquakes. So, in order to find out the cause of this disordered behavior in animals, you have to explore all these possibilities. ”

The early days of flying

Gaining a comprehensive understanding of natural mechanisms is one area covered by Van Leuen’s research group. Here, scientists are trying to translate knowledge gained from nature into new technology. Compare it with the early days of flying, when bird wings were an inspiration. “You want to know how things work in nature. What is their job? How does the animal do that? It’s called reverse engineering. Nature is incredibly complex and it took a very long time to develop. Often our technology is still very limited for us to recreate this Accurately ingenious systems.

Together with the Delft University of Technology, for example, biologists at Wageningen developed surgical needles similar to the parasitic wasp ovary. Using this long thin needle, wasps lay eggs in larvae that live in wood or fruit. The ovary consists of three external structural elements that are able to move in the forward direction. “With engineers, we have translated this vision into a flexible medical needle. This allows you to reach places in the body with this hard-to-reach needle. Consider brain surgeries, then you will need a pathway that leads to the least damage. Or in the spinal cord You wouldn’t want a needle like this to touch any nerves. “

Source: Egg insertion mechanisms and orientation of parasitic wasps

But this medical application is still not genius as nature invented itself. Van Leeuwen: “Ichneumon wasps have complex muscles that drive the needle. It’s a wonderful system no more than a single hair. It’s actually a really cool little trick: the needle moves forward thanks to the intertwined elements that intelligently push and pull it. We have succeeded in recreating that, but a needle This creature can actually do a lot. It’s very innovative, as the outer structures of a needle can subtly alter their properties to achieve greater rigidity, for one thing. This happens at the cellular level, and current science has been unable to mimic these changing physical properties – so far. ”

Cell programming

Currently, the medical needle is still undergoing further research and testing. However, it may take some time before it has the same properties as wasps. “Since we are unable to print or grow 3D biochemicals that can change their shape, we should theoretically be able to program the cell. This way, you can make the cell produce whatever physical property you want. This is still far in the future. But you see many From the disciplines gathered in this area of ​​expertise already working on it. “

“In the end, we should be able to regenerate organs from one stem cell. This means that you no longer have to deal with a donor organ that rejects the body. It will take some time before this happens. Transplantation is one thing, but how do you keep something Like that alive? In this case too, we would first have to uncover the basic mechanisms. ”

Faux Leather

Danquin Liu feels different about it. Lowe at Eindhoven University of Technology works on synthetic skin that can secrete and absorb fluids. Beneficial in the healthcare sector for administering drug doses and wound fluid absorption. But it’s also perfect for cooling robots (just as sweat does for us humans) or for lubricants (by releasing lubricants). Lowe: “We looked at the effect of the skin on humans and animals for this paint. But this mechanism is so complex that it cannot be copied one by one. Nobody has the complete picture. We know we’re sweating to regulate our temperature, but there’s a lot that we don’t know about.”

According to Liu, this is not a problem since it only takes inspiration from nature: “In fact, nature is full of centuries-old dynamic life technology, and we are not able to understand all of it. In our research, we use nature as an example and try to improve something. Take the berries. For example, it always has a water repellent structure. We can then develop a structure that you can control, and so you can add something to things. “

The principle of a cry of terror

She explains, even if Liu is not exactly sure how a mechanism works in the skin, but the principle can be helpful. “When you feel cold, your skin contracts and you get a cry of terror. These contractions cause your skin – which is usually smooth – to show surprisingly surprising effect. We can apply this principle in our paint so that the robotic arm has more grip. Or to clean solar panels in the desert in Within seconds after a sandstorm. “

Lowe is also developing a screen for the blind, also based on the principle of a scream of terror. For example, the idea is that the screen will shrink when touched and in this way “display” the text in Braille. Lowe believes that this project will take about five years. “It is not about technology or matter, but this type of haptic feedback has to do with human perception, which makes it more complicated. We are working with a Swedish university to achieve this.”

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