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A Moth's Eye Taught Screens and Solar Panels to Stop Reflecting
The eyes of a moth are covered in bumps far too small to see, and copying them helps screens, lenses and solar panels shake off their glare.
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Fact-based Nature Did It First
A Desert Beetle Taught Engineers How to Drink From Fog
In the Namib Desert a small black beetle stands on its head at dawn to catch fog on its back, and engineers have been borrowing its trick ever since.
Fact-based Nature Did It First
A Termite Mound Taught a Building in Zimbabwe to Cool Itself
In the middle of Harare stands a big office and shopping centre with no ordinary air conditioning, designed after a long look at the tall earth towers that termites build.
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A Lotus Leaf Taught Paint How to Wash Itself
A lotus leaf is far too bumpy for dirt to hold on to, and once a microscope explained why, the same trick went onto building walls, fabrics and glass.
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A Kingfisher Taught Japan's Bullet Train to Be Quiet
Japan's fast trains made a loud bang every time they left a tunnel, until engineers gave one a long nose shaped like the beak of a diving kingfisher.
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Velcro Began With a Burr Stuck to a Dog
A walk in the woods in 1941 ended with burrs clinging to a dog's fur, and one close look under a microscope gave the world the hook-and-loop fastener.
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A Humpback Whale's Bumpy Flippers Taught Fan Blades a New Trick
The long flippers of a humpback whale are lined with knobbly bumps along the front edge, and when scientists tested them in a wind tunnel, the bumps turned out to be worth copying on fans and turbines.
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A Gecko's Toes Showed Scientists How to Stick Without Glue
A gecko can hang from a glass ceiling on perfectly dry feet, and once scientists looked at the whole foot rather than just its tiny hairs, they built a pad that grips like one.