Biomimicry: Humans Learning from Birds

The Feathered Desert Podcast

Summary: In this episode Kiersten and Cheryl talk about how birds have influenced us to create some amazingly cool technology.

For our hearing-impaired listeners, a transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean.

Show Notes:

“The Amazing Secrets of Woodpecker Tongues,” by Rebecca Heisman, June 10, 2021. American Bird Conservancy. https://abcbirds.org

“Geese Inspire New Airbus Formation Flying Technology,” by Kathleen Bangs, December 2, 2021. https://airlinegeeks.com

“How the wings of owls and hummingbirds inspire drones, wind turbines and technology,” by Ilias Berberi, Carleton University, The Conversation, May 11, 2020. https://theconversation.com

“Next-gen e-readers: Improved ‘peacock’ technology could lock in color for high-res displays,” February 5, 2013, University of Michigan. https://www.sciencedaily.com

30 Animals That Made Us Smarter podcast, episode 1-Kingfisher and bullet train and episode 4-Woodpecker and black box. BBC World Service, bbc.co.uk

Transcript

Kiersten: Intro – Sometimes we take birds for granted. They are just a part of our daily lives that we don’t focus on, but occasionally we notice their extraordinary characteristics. When the right person, such as an engineer, notices these amazing attributes they are often inspired by the birds and create or improve man made devices. In this episode Cheryl and I are talking about biomimicry and how birds influence us.

Cheryl: Let’s start off with a definition of biomimicry. According to the Oxford Languages dictionary the definition of biomimicry is the design and production of materials, structures, and systems that are modeled on biological entities and processes. The word itself literally means imitation of the living. So basically, we learn from nature how to create things that work well. For example: those burrs that get stuck on your socks in summer influenced the creator of Velcro, shark skin led to more hydro-dynamic swimwear that Olympic athletes now use, and dragonflies influenced the design of helicopters.

Kiersten: When we listen to what nature can teach us, we can invent some pretty spectacular things. Let’s look at a few creations that birds influenced.

Japan’s Bullet Train: The bullet train can reach speeds of up to 300 mph. It’s a modern marvel of human engineering and has made travel in certain regions of Japan very efficient. There was a problem with the first design though, a rather seriously annoying problem. The flat faced design of most passenger trains is fine for trains that travel at more typical speeds of 60 mph or so, but that design at 300mph creates a sonic boom noise when exiting a train tunnel. This was a big problem because it was causing serious noise pollution. As the train passed through the tunnel, the air built up in front of the train and then exploded upon exiting the tunnel. People that lived along the route of the train were being awoken at night and were disturbed during the day. It was also scaring local wildlife. Something needed to be done and fast.

One of the engineers on the project was a birdwatcher. One day when he was birding at a lake, he saw a kingfisher diving into the water to catch a fish. As the bird entered the water, the surface of the water was only slightly disturbed. It was like the kingfisher’s bill cut through the water. The engineer thought about this when the noise problem presented itself. Using the kingfisher’s long, sharp beak as a model, he restructured the nose of the bullet train and reduced the noise to almost nothing. It also increased the energy efficiency by 10-15%. So, thank you kingfisher!

Cheryl: Silent Flight

The silent flight of owls is one of their most useful adaptations. Sneaking up on their prey in the dark of night is what makes them extremely successful predators. Recently researchers have looked to the structure of owl feathers to help solve a problem with wind turbines.

The development of wind turbines is one of mankind’s brilliant attempts toward eco-friendly energy production. We know that this source is not perfect but engineers are constantly working on improvement. One of the complaints is how noisy wind turbine farms can be, so scientists have looked to the owl for a solution.

They looked at the structure of the owl’s feathers to determine how they are so quiet in flight. Owl feathers have sharp edges, also known as serrations, along the front edge of the feather. This sharp edge breaks up the air turbulence created during flight. Breaking up wind turbulence reduces the noise caused by the turbulence. The back ends of owl feathers are fringed. The fringe structures disperse even more air turbulence once again reducing the sound created in flight. Both of these structures help owls fly silently.

To combat noisy wind turbines, researchers are attempting to apply the structure of the owl’s feathers to the blades of the wind turbine.

Kiersten: Hummingbirds and drones

We all know and love the hummingbird here at The Feathered Desert. Everything about the hummingbird is a miracle of nature. One of the most fascinating things to engineers and scientists is how hummingbirds fly. They don’t just flap their wings up and down like other birds do, they actually flick their wrists which allows them to produce a figure eight pattern. This allows hummingbirds to fly forward, backwards, hover, and even fly sideways.

Drones have become a fixture of modern society, whether we all like it or not. Drones can be used for all sorts of things such as surveillance of terrain that humans cannot get to on foot, getting accurate counts of wildlife without disturbing them, and even delivering sperm from endangered birds to waiting scientists. (For more on this check out our episode Conservation Technology). Drone engineers are always looking for ways to improve their creations. In the last decade, they have taken notice of the hummingbird’s gravity defying abilities.

Creating drones that can maneuver through the air like a hummingbird could be the next step in drone technology.

Cheryl: Geese V-formation

For generations we’ve known that the v-formation of geese helps them survive the long migration flights they perform twice a year. The leader at the front of the v-formation takes on most of the energy expense while those flanking the leader are able to draft off of their hard work. They share the burden by rotating who is in the leading position. It’s a great way to conserve energy on long trips.

A group of students at Stanford University used this lesson from nature to propose a way to conserve energy in the airline industry. Airbus is a company that designs and builds airplanes and other aerospace technology. Always looking for ways to improve airplanes and air travel, they host competitions for innovative ideas. The group of students at Stanford entered an idea based on the v-formation of geese. They said if airplanes flying cross country could draft off of each other they could save fuel and reduce carbon emissions.

The students didn’t win the competition but Airbus loved the idea so much that they tried it out. They launched two Airbus jets from Toulouse, France. Once airborne, they maneuvered into a tandem formation and flew across the Atlantic Ocean landing in Montreal, Canada. The flight was a success. The planes flew and landed safely, saved more than 5% of fuel, and reduced their carbon emissions by over 6 tons.

Kiersten: Woodpecker and collisions:

Woodpeckers have incredible collision absorption abilities. We’ve all heard woodpeckers banging away on wooden or metal surfaces, but have you ever stopped to think of how much force the woodpecker creates when they do that and how do they survive constantly beating their face on hard surfaces.

Woodpeckers actually beat their beaks against a surface 22 times a second without causing any damage to their brain. They are creating immense G-forces when they do this. G-force stands for gravitational force. This is the force that impacts beings as they move through space. An airplane take-off creates 2 Gs, fast roller coasters create 5 Gs, humans pass out at 6 Gs. Woodpeckers peck at trees at a force of 1,200 Gs. So how do they survive such a force without their head crushing?

They have four shock absorbing adaptations. 1- their chisel-shaped beak is tough but elastic. It is slightly malleable and able to absorb vibration. 2- their hyoid bone, which anchors the tongue, wraps around the entire skull like rubber tubing, 3- the bone of the skull is actually spongey. The bone is thick and packed with microscopic plates creating a woven mesh that stops low frequency vibrations from passing through. 4- the skull hugs the brain snuggly. They don’t have fluid in skull like us. The fluid actually makes us highly susceptible to concussive forces. They woodpecker’s brain won’t knock around inside its skull when it bangs it’s beak against a hard surface.

Two researchers from UC Berkely used the woodpecker’s collision adaptations to improve protection for electronic devices such as black boxes on airplanes. They built a protective system that mimics the four-layer protection of the woodpecker. 1- They designed a cylindrical structure for the outer most layer that was like the beak. 2-They added a layer of rubber inside like the hyoid. 3- They added glass beads inside that mimic the spongey bone and 4- a second layer of metal directly around the electronics. This design protected the electronics up to 60,000 Gs. Thanks woodpecker!

The woodpecker also inspired a student to design a better bike helmet. This student was an avid biker and he suffered a concussion after involvement in a bike accident. He was wearing a bike helmet but it cracked and he suffered a concussion. He was inspired by the hyoid bone of the woodpecker that wraps around the skull and the spongey bone of the skull. He invented a dual density cardboard with a honey comb patterned (also inspired by nature) liner for bike helmets. It was light and performed very well at absorbing impact. And its recyclable!

Cheryl: Peacock feathers and digital screens

Our last example of biomimicry involves one of the most beautiful birds, the peacock. Their feathers are an iconic image used for so many things in our human cultures. The colors are eye popping and we often try to mimic the beauty of the male peacock’s tail feathers in our art. Their beauty relies on iridescence, a sheen that shifts color depending on your viewing angle. Peacock feathers never lose their bright vibrant colors, and that’s because the color is created by structure not pigment. Since the first high-resolution screen was invented, researchers have been trying to improve the color images that they display. They have now looked to the peacock for inspiration.

Researchers at the University of Michigan have found a way to lock in structural color by using texture instead of chemicals. The peacock’s tail reflects light off of small grooves on the surface of the feather. The grooves only reflect certain wavelengths of light depending on the angle of the light to the groove. That’s why peacock feathers are shimmery. The University of Michigan researchers have discovered how to trap the reflected colors of light in metallic grooves making them permanent. This could lead to advanced color ebooks, electronic paper, and color reflective screens that don’t need their own light to be readable. Reflective displays would also use much less energy than our current backlit digital screens.

Kiersten: It is amazing what we can learn from nature, if we just let ourselves listen.