Modern Inventions That Are Inspired By Nature

It’s no secret that the world is a beautiful place. After all, Mother Nature has had billions of years to perfect her craft, and she’s done a wonderful job. That’s also how nature continues to wow us with the number of things it’s come up with and crafted throughout that time. That’s why there are so many modern inventions that are inspired by nature.

In fact, some of the things we use every day wouldn’t even exist if we weren’t inspired by the world around us, but how did we get from there to useful additions? What has sometimes taken us humans years to perfect has been sitting around us all this time.

Solar panels and their design are highly influenced by leaves

Solar panels have been the talk of the world in recent years as people look to create as much renewable energy as possible. Perhaps that’s no wonder we’ve looked to nature for inspiration? Leaves are pros at sucking up as much sunlight as possible, but it’s not just luck. Leaves have small folds and creases, which channel more of the light into their cells. In 2015, researchers tried this with solar panels and found they generated up to 47% more energy than flat solar panels. 

Lotus flowers inspired self-cleaning paint

Many of us would do a lot to have self-cleaning things. It turns out that self-cleaning paint does exist, and it was released in 1999 by Sto, a German building company. It started in 1977 when the “lotus effect” was spotted. The plants are known for their beauty, but being superhydrophobic means the leaves also repel water and dirt, making them almost self-cleaning. It took years for humans to recreate this magic. Still, now they have, we can enjoy outdoor paint, which repels dirt and moisture with ease.

Velcro was created after seeing hooks on burdock burrs

Velcro has been used for just about all kinds of tasks throughout the year. It turns out it was created by Swiss engineer George de Mestral back in the 1940s after he went for a hike. George spotted hooks on the end of burdock burrs which allowed the plants to stick their seeds to his dog’s fur. It wasn’t long before he had his own idea for creating something to make sticking clothes together. By 1955, Velcro had been born - and it’s been around ever since. 

Kingfishers helped inspire the shape and speed of the bullet train

Japan has seen plenty of incredible inventions, including the Shinkansen Bullet Train. Its shape means that it can go into tunnels between 150 to 200 mph while hardly making a sound. Did you know the bullet train was actually inspired by a kingfisher? That’s right; the bird’s beak helps it dive into the water without making a splash and at some incredible speeds. As well as lowering the noise to almost nothing, the bullet train’s design also means it’s around 10% faster than other trains and uses 15% less electricity.

Several animals have inspired the creation of camouflage

You might have to look hard, but you often don’t have to look far to see how much camouflage there is in nature. While camouflage might not seem like a modern invention, it wasn’t until humans were inspired by animals such as chameleons, polar bears, and underwater creatures that we started to adopt the idea for ourselves. With humans having a limited ability to distinguish between color patterns from far away, camouflage now means that we can hide in plain sight. 

Beavers have inspired modern wetsuits

There’s a good chance that if many of us jumped into the water, it would take a fraction of a second before we were wet. From there, it could take just a few moments before we’re cold and in a lot of trouble. That’s why wetsuits are so great, but how were they inspired? By nature, of course. To find that answer, we need to look at beavers. While they’re far from the only creature who spends plenty of time in the water, they are one of the few that uses hair to trap air instead of layers of blubber. In 2016, engineers working at MIT used this idea to create a new wetsuit that was covered in rubber hair-like additions. Now, they can be used by water sports athletes to keep warm, just like beavers.

Mother Nature is an incredible beast. In fact, she’s so wonderful that there are plenty of modern inventions that are inspired by nature. That’s right; plenty of things we now might take for granted wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the world around us.