Bio-inspired Design: Discover the Animal Adaptations That Can Change the World

Animal Adaptations: Overview

Silvana:
Hello everyone. My name is Silvana

Katie:
And my name is Katie, and we're educators at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

Silvana:
Today, we'll be learning about some really amazing animal adaptations by making observations about different animals and looking closely at their body features just like real-life scientists do at our museum. But, before we learn about adaptations, let's talk about the environments where animals live. Katie, where are some places animals might live?

Katie:
Well, animals can live in many different environments. Some animals live in the desert, some animals live in the rainforest, and some animals can live in the ocean.

Silvana:
And this is really important for us to understand because it is animals' adaptations that help them to have the best chance to survive in their environment, wherever it may be, just like the ocean and the desert, like Katie mentioned.

Katie:
But wait, Silvana, adaptation. I've heard that word before. Can you please remind us what that word means again?

Silvana:
Of course, Katie. An adaptation is a physical or behavioral characteristic or trait of a plant or animal that helps them to better survive in their environment. So that's something that's in their body, or something that's on their body, or even something that they do with their bodies. And all living things are adapted to the environment where they live, because these characteristics, these traits help them to survive in that environment. Let's look at a specific environment. For example, the ocean. The ocean is a large body of water that covers three-quarters of the Earth.

Katie:
Wow, that's a lot of water.

Silvana:
Yes it is. Now, I mentioned the adaptations can be something that's on an animal's body, so let's look at some animal body parts. Katie, which one of these body parts do you think belongs to an animal that lives in the ocean?

Katie:
Well, I would say the tail belongs to an animal that lives in the ocean because it would help the animal to be better able to swim and navigate through all that water.

Silvana:
Yes, that's true. Having a wide tail like that could help an animal to swim better in the deep water of the ocean. Adaptations can be body parts just like this that help an animal to better survive in their environment, and we have a model in our museum of a very special North Atlantic right whale that was named Phoenix. And that was her actual tail that you saw in the photo. So, looking closely at this model, what other body parts do you notice that might help them to better survive in the water?

Katie:
Well, Silvana, first I noticed that Phoenix is really, really big and she also has a really big mouth, maybe to help her filter through all the food that she needs to get from the ocean. She also has two fins on her sides that probably help her to also swim.

Silvana:
Exactly. Those are all physical traits or adaptations that right whales have on their body that help them survive. A whale's adaptations help them to live in a water environment like the ocean, but all animals have adaptations that help them to live in all different types of environments, like in water, in air, or on land.

Katie:
Awesome. Okay. So now we understand that an adaptation helps animals to best survive in their environment where they live. Can we practice our observation skills on another animal?

Silvana:
Yes. What a good idea, Katie. Let's look closely at an animal everyone is probably very familiar with, a frog. What observations can you make about the Panamanian golden frog when you look closely?

Katie:
Well, I can definitely observe right away its yellow or golden skin with all those black dots.

Silvana:
Katie, can you tell us how you think having yellow skin like that might help the Panamanian golden frog to survive in its environment?

Katie:
Well, I know sometimes the animals have bright colors to warn other predators that might want to eat them, that they're actually poisonous and they won't want to eat them because it might make them sick.

Silvana:
Great thinking. In fact, the skin of a single Panamanian golden frog contains enough toxins to kill 1,200 mice, and it's the vibrant yellow color that warns predators of its toxicity. What else do you observe?

Katie:
Well, I also see that the frog has two big eyes kind of on top of its head.

Silvana:
Katie, how do you think having eyes on top of their head like that might help the Panamanian golden frog?

Katie:
Well, I really think that this might help the Panamanian golden frog to be better able to see all around them instead of just right up front. And this could help them to not only spot predators and help keep themselves safe, but also to help them catch those flies that I know they like to eat.

Silvana:
That's a really interesting idea. Here's a fun rhyme for us to remember how an animal's eyes can tell us a little bit more about the animal. It goes like this: eyes on the side likes to hide, eyes in the front likes to hunt. And for frogs, because their eyes are on the top of their heads, they help them to hide from predators and hunt for prey. Is there anything else you notice?

Katie:
Well, I also notice that the Panamanian golden frog has four legs, two on the front and two in the back.

Silvana:
And the back legs are even webbed in some frog species. Katie, can you build off of that observation and tell us how you think having legs like that might help the Panamanian golden frog?

Katie:
Well, I know that animals with long legs like bunnies can sometimes jump higher or farther. Is that the same or is that true with frogs too?

Silvana:
In fact, you're right. Launched by those long legs, many frogs can leap more than 20 times their body length. That's really far. And there you go. There it's going. Wow.

Katie:
Wow, Silvana, those are some really cool adaptations that frogs have. I'm thinking that those webbed feet must also maybe help them move through the water, and I bet those eyes being on top of their head must help them to live on land where they can catch all those flies that they like to eat so much.

Silvana:
Exactly, Katie. Frogs have adapted over time to live both on land and in water, and this really helps us to understand that all animals have adaptations that help them to live in different types of environments.

Katie:
All right, this really makes me want to go learn more about animal adaptations, so I am going to go do some research.

Silvana:
Awesome, Katie. Good luck.

Katie:
Thanks.

Bio-Inspired Design

Silvana:
Hello everyone, it's us again. My name is Silvana

Katie:
And my name is Katie. And we're educators at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History here in Washington, D.C. And you know Silvana, I just learned all about how some scientists are inspired by animal adaptations to create new types of technology. You taught us in our last video about how animal adaptations can help animals to better survive in their environment, but Silvana, did you know that there are also scientists who study these animal adaptations and are so inspired by them that they create new technology that mimics those animal adaptations?

Silvana:
Really Katie? Who are these scientists? And tell us all about them.

Katie:
So these are scientists called engineers, and they use something called bio-inspired design to help them solve human problems.

Silvana:
Can you tell us more about what an engineer is?

Katie:
Yeah, an engineer is someone whose job it is to design and build complex machines, systems or structures. Anything that is built must first be engineered or planned out, and that's what they do when they design these machines, they plan them out. They have special or scientific training that they use to plan, or design, practical things that can help people. But the engineers we are talking about today use something else called bio-inspired design, also known as biomimicry. That means when they're planning their machines, they use ideas from nature to solve problems. And I learned that plants and animals have been inspiring new inventions for centuries.

Silvana:
Okay, that makes sense. And that must be why divers use flippers to swim deep in the water. Engineers looked to nature, where animals like sea turtles have flippers to be better able to swim in water. And so you are telling me these people called engineers decided to design something just like it to help humans swim underwater too?

Katie:
Exactly, Silvana.

Silvana:
I want to learn more about that.

Katie:
Okay. So should we investigate some other cool inventions to learn more about how engineers use bio-inspired design?

Silvana:
Yeah.

Katie:
Okay. So when engineers use bio-inspired design, they investigate the animals and plants of the world, and they look closely at their adaptations to come up with new technologies that solve human problems, ranging from helping sick or injured people, to saving lives during environmental disasters, or even just to make people's lives easier or safer.

Silvana:
Wow. So these engineers can solve problems for people all around the world?

Katie:
Yes. And there's a very simple invention I bet a lot of our friends at home might be even using right now.

Silvana:
Really?

Katie:
Yeah. I bet some of you might be wearing Velcro on your shoes, or maybe even have Velcro on your clothes.

Silvana:
I have Velcro on my winter jacket and I have Velcro on my bike shoes.

Katie:
Ah, me too. I have it on my winter coat as well. And did you know that the inventor of Velcro was inspired by something actually from nature?

Silvana:
Wow. No, I had no idea. Tell us more about it.

Katie:
All right, so the story goes that an engineer from Switzerland, named George de Mestral, was intrigued one day, way back in 1941, after his dog was covered in burdock burrs from a walk outside. And he wanted to know more about how those burrs could so easily stick to his dog. Here's a photo of some of those burrs sticking to a person's jacket.

Silvana:
So he wanted to know what made these burdock burrs so sticky?

Katie:
Yes. So he investigated them under a microscope and discovered a pattern of hooks, which easily attached to other materials, like dog fur, and this inspired him to create something else that could easily stick or attach things together, and boom, Velcro.

Silvana:
Wow. The next time I put on my winter jacket, I will definitely have to try to look very closely at the Velcro to see those hooks.

Katie:
Yeah, it's very cool, and now you'll know that it was actually inspired by something from nature. But, Silvana, many engineers find inspiration from observing the natural world. And in fact, here's another example. And this is a machine also that uses bio-inspired design, the Tokaido Shinkansen, the Japanese bullet train. This is one of the fastest trains in the world. Okay, Silvana, what do you notice when you look at this train?

Silvana:
Well, I notice it has a long pointed nose at the front of the train, which is very different from the Washington, D.C., Metro trains that I usually ride, that have a flat front. And I also notice it seems to have these cables on top and above it, and there seems to be something connecting them.

Katie:
Great observations. Yes, the faster a train is, the louder it's going to be. And some of those features you observed were actually created when the engineers looked to nature to help them figure out how to make this train travel more quietly.

Silvana:
Really? Does the pointy nose help with that?

Katie:
Actually, yes. So engineers noticed that one of the moments where the train was the loudest was when it was entering tunnels and it created a loud sound or a sonic boom. And one of the engineers was an avid bird watcher and remembered learning about the kingfisher, which is a bird that dives really at high speeds into the water to catch fish, leaving behind barely a splash. So they designed their train mimicking the shape of the kingfisher's bill on their nose, making it pointy and long, just like you noticed.

Silvana:
And what about the cables at the top that I noticed?

Katie:
Well, it's interesting that you noticed those too, because those cables cause a lot of noise. And that's because there's something that kind of connects the train to those cables, called a pantograph, and they're really loud on really fast trains like the Shinkansen bullet train.

Silvana:
Did they look to nature to solve this problem too?

Katie:
Of course they did. And they looked to an animal that you probably know, with an incredible ability to fly silently. Do you know what animal I'm talking about?

Silvana:
Is it the owl? I know they're well known for their ability to fly silently to catch their prey, but how did that help them? This machine doesn't even fly.

Katie:
Well, you're right about that, it definitely doesn't fly. But they were inspired by the owl's ability to fly silently. But the reason the owl can fly so silently is because of their flight feathers. They've adapted over time to muffle the sound of their wings. So their flight feathers have wider spaces between the combs of the feathers, and the wider the comb, the less sound the wing makes as it flaps.

Silvana:
So how did that help the train move more quietly?

Katie:
Well, they created the pantograph to look more like an owl's wing, including those small gaps, just like the space combs on the feathers. And because of this, there were no vibrations, even at high speeds, making the train move much more quietly.

Silvana:
Wow, Katie, thank you for sharing some really amazing machines created by engineers using bio-inspired design.

Katie:
Isn't it so cool, Silvana, how observing the natural world can lead to some really creative and innovative machines?

Silvana:
It really is. And we hope this has inspired our friends watching this video to come up with your own inventions to help solve another human problem.