Level 4 Reading 4A

Reading 4A

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DESIGN BY NATURE: BIOMIMETICS One cloudless midsummer day, biologist Andrew Parker knelt in the baking red sand of an Australian desert and gently placed the right back leg of a thorny devil into a dish of water. The thorny devil—a small lizard that has learned to survive in the extreme heat of the Australian desert— has a secret that fascinated Parker. "Look, look!" he exclaimed. "Its back is completely drenched!" Sure enough, in less than a minute, water from the dish had traveled up the lizard's leg, across its skin, and into its mouth. It was, in essence, drinking through its foot. The thorny devil can also do this when standing on wet sand—a vital competitive advantage in the desert. Parker had come here to solve the riddle of how it does this, not from purely biological interest, but with a specific purpose in mind: to make a device to help people collect water in the desert. From Natural Wonder to Useful Tool Parker is a leading scientist in the field of biomimetics— applying designs from nature to solve problems in engineering, materials science, medicine, and other fields. His studies of the body coverings of butterflies and beetles have led to brighter screens for cell phones. He has even drawn inspiration from nature's past: While visiting a museum in Poland, he noticed a 45-million-year-old fly trapped in amber and observed how the shape of its eye's surface reduced light reflection. This shape is now being used in solar panels to make them more efficient.

自然设计：仿生学 盛夏一个万里无云的日子，生物学家安德鲁·帕克跪在灼热的红沙滩上 在澳大利亚的一片沙漠中，将一只多刺魔鬼的右后腿轻轻放入一盘水中。 棘手的魔鬼——一种学会在澳大利亚沙漠的极端高温下生存的小蜥蜴-- 有一个让帕克着迷的秘密。 “看，看！”他喊道。“它的背完全湿透了！” 果然，不到一分钟， 盘子里的水顺着蜥蜴的腿流了上去，穿过它的皮肤，进入了它的嘴里。 本质上，它是在用脚喝水。 当站在湿沙上时，多刺的魔鬼也能做到这一点——这是沙漠中至关重要的竞争优势。 帕克来到这里是为了解开它是如何做到这一点的谜团， 不是出于纯粹的生物学兴趣，而是出于特定的目的： 制造一种帮助人们在沙漠中取水的装置。 从自然奇观到实用工具 帕克是仿生学领域的顶尖科学家-- 应用自然界的设计来解决工程、材料科学、医学和其他领域的问题。 他对蝴蝶和甲虫身体覆盖物的研究使手机屏幕更亮。 他甚至从大自然的过去中汲取灵感： 在参观波兰的一家博物馆时，他注意到一只4500万年前的苍蝇被困在琥珀中 并观察了其眼睛表面的形状如何减少光反射。 这种形状现在被用于太阳能电池板，以提高其效率。

As part of the next phase in his plan to create a water-collection device inspired by the lizard, Parker sent his observations to Michael Rubner and Robert Cohen, two colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Parker is full of enthusiasm about the many possibilities of biomimetics. Rubner and Cohen, on the other hand, are much more practical; they focus on the ideas that have a chance of being applied successfully. This combination of biological insight and engineering pragmatism is vital to success in biomimetics. And it has led to several promising technologies. Though Rubner and Cohen are certainly impressed by biological structures, they consider nature just a starting point for innovation. Cohen says, "The natural structure provides a clue to what is useful... But maybe you can do it better." They consider a biomimetics project a success only if it has the potential to make a useful tool for people. "Looking at pretty structures in nature is not sufficient," says Cohen. "What I want to know is can we actually transform these structures into [something] with true utility in the real world?" Unlocking Nature's Secrets The work of Parker, Rubner, and Cohen is only one part of a growing global biomimetics movement. Scientists around the world are studying and trying to copy a wide variety of nature's design secrets. In the United States, researchers are looking at the shape of humpback whale fins in order to help wind turbines generate more electric energy. The shape of the body of a certain fish has inspired designers at Mercedes-Benz to develop a more efficient car design. By analyzing how termite keep their large mounds at the right temperature and humidity, architects in Zimbabwe have built more comfortable buildings. And in Japan, medical researchers have developed a painless needle that is similar in shape to the proboscis of a mosquito. The Bio-Inspired Robot Potentially, one of the most useful applications of biomimetics is the robot. Robots can perform tasks that might be too boring or dangerous for humans, but they can be extremely difficult to build. Professor Ronald Fearing of the University of California is creating a tiny robot fly that can be used in surveillance or rescue operations. Fearing's fly is a simplified copy of the real thing. "Some things are just too mysterious and complicated to be able to replicate," he says. It will still be years before his robot fly can perform anything like an actual fly, but Fearing is confident that over time he will close the gap between nature and human engineering. At Stanford University in California, Mark Cutkosky is working on a robot gecko. Cutkosky studied the extremely small structures on the tiny lizard's feet that allow it to run up and down vertical walls. He applied what he learned to create

作为他设计灵感来自蜥蜴的集水装置计划下一阶段的一部分， 帕克将他的观察结果发送给了迈克尔·鲁布纳和罗伯特·科恩， 麻省理工学院的两位同事。 帕克对仿生学的许多可能性充满热情。 另一方面，Rubner和Cohen则更加务实； 他们专注于有机会成功应用的想法。 这种生物洞察力和工程实用主义的结合对于仿生学的成功至关重要。 它带来了几项有前景的技术。 虽然Rubner和Cohen肯定对生物结构印象深刻， 他们认为自然只是创新的起点。 Cohen说：“自然结构提供了有用的线索……但也许你可以做得更好。” 他们认为仿生学项目是成功的 只有当它有潜力成为人们有用的工具时。 科恩说：“仅仅观察自然界中漂亮的结构是不够的。”。 “我想知道的是，我们真的能把这些结构转化为在现实世界中具有真正实用性的东西吗？” 揭开大自然的秘密 帕克、鲁布纳和科恩的工作只是全球日益增长的仿生运动的一部分。 世界各地的科学家正在研究并试图复制各种各样的大自然设计秘密。 在美国，研究人员正在研究座头鲸鳍的形状 以帮助风力涡轮机产生更多的电能。 某种鱼的身体形状启发了梅赛德斯-奔驰的设计师 开发更高效的汽车设计。 通过分析白蚁如何在适当的温度和湿度下保持它们的大土堆， 津巴布韦的建筑师建造了更舒适的建筑。 在日本，医学研究人员已经开发出一种无痛针 其形状与蚊子的喙相似。 仿生机器人 仿生最有用的应用之一可能是机器人。 机器人可以执行对人类来说可能太无聊或太危险的任务， 但它们可能极难构建。 加州大学的Ronald Fearing教授正在创造一种小型机器人苍蝇 可用于监视或救援行动。 恐惧的苍蝇是真实事物的简化复制品。 他说：“有些东西太神秘、太复杂，无法复制。”。 他的机器人苍蝇还需要几年时间才能像真正的苍蝇一样飞行， 但Fearing相信，随着时间的推移，他将缩小自然与人类工程之间的差距。 在加利福尼亚州的斯坦福大学，Mark Cutkosky正在研究一种机器人壁虎。 Cutkosky研究了这种小蜥蜴脚上极其微小的结构 这使得它可以在垂直的墙上上下移动。 他将所学应用于创造

Stickybot, a robot that can walk up and down smooth vertical surfaces. The U.S. military, which funds the project, hopes that one day Stickybot will be able to climb up a building and stay there for days, monitoring the area below. Cutkosky believes there will be a range of nonmilitary uses as well. "I'm trying to get robots to go places where they've never gone before," he says. For now, Stickybot can only climb extremely smooth surfaces— unlike a real gecko, which can run up just about any surface very quickly. Despite the promise of the field and the brilliant people who work in it, biomimetics has led to surprisingly few business successes. Perhaps only one product has become truly famous—Velcro. The material was invented in 1948 by Swiss engineer George de Mestral, who copied the way seeds called cockleburs stuck to his dog's fur. Some blame industry, whose short-term expectations about how soon a project should be completed and become profitable conflict with the time-consuming nature of biomimetics research. But the main reason biomimetics hasn't yet been a business success is that nature is incredibly complex. Nonetheless, the gap with nature is gradually closing. Researchers are using more powerful microscopes, high-speed computers, and other new technologies to learn more from nature. A growing number of biomimetic materials are being produced. And although the field of biomimetics has yet to become a very successful commercial industry, it has already developed into a powerful tool for understanding nature's secrets. MORE NATURE-INSPIRED INNOVATIONS A type of glass has been created that draws inspiration from spider webs. Birds can see the ultraviolet reflective strands in the glass, and thus avoid flying into it. Water does not stick to a lotus leaf because of its surface structure. Copying this process, one company has developed a water-repelling sealant that can be sprayed on surfaces. Swimmers can now swim faster because of new suits that mimic the design of sharkskin. This design is also used to reduce friction on ships, submarines, and airplanes. High-speed trains have long beak-shaped noses, modeled after the kingfisher bird. This reduces noise and allows the train to travel much faster. A new fan on the market is based on the spiral shape seen in tornadoes and whirlpools. The fan cools the air more efficiently than traditional fans.

Stickybot，一种可以在光滑的垂直表面上行走的机器人。 资助该项目的美国军方希望有一天Stickybot能够爬上一座建筑 在那里呆上几天，监视下面的区域。 Cutkosky认为，还将有一系列非军事用途。 他说：“我正试图让机器人去他们以前从未去过的地方。”。 目前，Stickybot只能攀爬极其光滑的表面-- 与真正的壁虎不同，壁虎几乎可以很快地爬上任何表面。 尽管该领域前景广阔，工作人员才华横溢， 令人惊讶的是，仿生学几乎没有带来商业上的成功。 也许只有一种产品真正出名了——维可牢尼龙搭扣。 这种材料是由瑞士工程师乔治·德·梅斯特拉尔于1948年发明的， 他模仿了被称为苍耳子的种子粘在狗皮毛上的方式。 一些人将此归咎于行业，他们对项目应多久完成的短期预期 并与仿生学研究的耗时性产生利益冲突。 但仿生学尚未取得商业成功的主要原因是大自然非常复杂。 尽管如此，与自然的差距正在逐渐缩小。 研究人员正在使用更强大的显微镜、高速计算机、， 以及其他新技术，从大自然中学习更多。 越来越多的仿生材料正在生产中。 尽管仿生学领域尚未成为一个非常成功的商业产业， 它已经发展成为理解自然秘密的强大工具。 更多以自然为灵感的创新 一种从蜘蛛网中汲取灵感的玻璃被创造出来。 鸟类可以看到玻璃中的紫外线反射线，从而避免飞入其中。 水不会粘在荷叶上，因为它的表面结构。 一家公司复制了这一过程，开发了一种可以喷涂在表面上的防水密封剂。 由于模仿鲨鱼皮设计的新泳衣，游泳者现在可以游得更快。 这种设计也用于减少船舶、潜艇和飞机上的摩擦。 高速列车有长喙形的鼻子，模仿翠鸟。 这降低了噪音，使火车行驶得更快。 市场上的一种新风扇是基于龙卷风和漩涡中看到的螺旋形状。 风扇比传统风扇更有效地冷却空气。

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