How to take the world apart

BETA

007skaty Navigate your crawler through blueprints to discover how engineers recreate the gecko's sticky grip.

007skaty Nature's Blueprints

A kingfisher beak on a high-speed train (Oh-oh, we fly!) No sonic boom, just a quiet lane (Yeah, we fly!)

007skaty The biological inspiration behind the nose of Japanese bullet trains.

Burdock seeds clinging to socks inspired the reverse engineering of Velcro.

007skaty The hook-like structure of Arctium burrs provides the biological blueprint that inventors copied to create modern hook-and-loop fasteners.

Engineers quieted the 500 Series Shinkansen by copying a kingfisher's aerodynamic beak.

007skaty A fifteen-meter-long nose mimics nature's blueprint to prevent loud tunnel sonic booms.

BETA

007skaty Decode the mechanics of plants and animals to discover how nature engineers survival.

Fun Fact

Bullet train beak: Redesigning the Japanese Shinkansen train's nose to mimic a kingfisher beak reduced noise and cut power use by 15 percent.

Glossary

biomimicry (noun)
The design and production of materials, structures, and systems modeled on biological entities and processes. George de Mestral invented Velcro in 1941 after observing how burrs clung to his dog.

Gossip

Which superpower from nature would you most want to wear?

Quiz

Why was the original Japanese bullet train redesign necessary?

007skaty Geckos climb vertical walls using millions of microscopic foot hairs.

007skaty Researchers in 2000 discovered that microscopic hairs called setae exploit Van der Waals forces, creating a blueprint for

007skaty Holographic schematics overlay a kingfisher beak onto the nose of a bullet train.

Quiz

Which bird's beak inspired the aerodynamic redesign of Japan's high-speed Shinkansen bullet train?

007skaty Biomimicry solved a major noise problem for Japan's bullet trains.

Quiz

What microscopic feature allows geckos to stick to smooth ceilings without any liquid glue?

007skaty Burdock seeds cling to surfaces using a unique natural hooking mechanism.

Quiz

What unique property of the lotus leaf has been reverse engineered to create self-cleaning paint?

007skaty Lotus leaves keep themselves clean using microscopic structures.