The Science that Imitates Nature's MechanismsA European industrialist not long ago became

The Science that Imitates Nature's Mechanisms

A European industrialist not long ago became very suspicious about American purposes and intentions in certain areas of scientific research. He learned by chance that the United States was signing contracts with scientists in England, France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Uruguay, Chile, Argentina, Australia, and other countries, calling for research into such matters as the function of the frog's eye and the learning ability of the octopus.

It seemed to the industrialist that such studies could not possibly have any practical value. He seriously believed that the United States was employing the foreign scientists to do meaningless work and occupy their time, while American scientists were busy in the really important areas of science. He was unaware of the fact that the United States was spending much more money at 'home than abroad for similar studies.

Nature does things better than people

Actually, the research he questioned involves a field of science so new that must people have never heard of it. Named bionics(仿生学) in 1960, this science is the study of living creatures, a study in search of principle applicable to engineering. Nature has operated a vast laboratory for two billion years, and bionics probes the secrets of the marvelous "special-purpose' mechanisms that have developed.

Take the frog's eye for example. A frog eats only live insects, and its eyes instantly spot a moving fly within reach of its tongue. You can surround a frog with dead(therefore motionless) flies, and it will never know they are there.

If we can completely understand the mechanic of the frog's eye, we can develop a "map-reading eye" for missiles and a "pattern-recognition eye" for our basic air-defense system called SAGE(semi-automatic ground environment). SAGE is badly overworked. Its international network of radar "EYES" supplies a tremendous mass of unimportant details about meteorites, clouds, flights of ducks, geese, and friendly planes, and it sometimes gets confused. Until we can build a mechanical frog's eye into SAGE, it will remain somewhat inefficient.

Military to civilian uses

The frog's eye holds promise in civilian life, too. For example, at most major airports the air-traffic problem—with 20 million flights per year to handle—has reached a critical stage. With 40 million flights in prospect for 1975, we must develop better devices for monitoring and controlling air traffic.

Special-purpose mechanisms as exciting as the frog's eye can be found throughout nature. The bat is under study because the bat's sonar is much more efficient than man-made sonar. By bouncing supersonic squeaks(吱吱声)off objects around it, the bat flies about with remarkable skills. A bat can fly through a dark room full of dozens of piano wires and never touch a single wire.

The mosquito is under study because we need to solve the problem of static that lessens the efficiency of our communications systems. A mosquito, simply by vibrating its wings, can set up a hum that will cut through any interfering noise, man or nature can create loud whistles or thunder, for instance and give a measege to another mosquito 150 feet away.

Electrical system

Theoretically at least we should be able to copy these mechanisms found in nature, for all biological organisms—from mosquito to frog to man—are in part actually electrical systems. The sense organs that "connect" all animals to the outside world are merely transducers(传感器)—instruments like a microphone, TV camera, or phonograph pickup arm—which convert one form. of energy into another. A microphone, for example, converts sound into electrical signals which are carried to a loudspeaker and converted back into sound waves. Similarly, the nerve cells of a man's ear convert a cry for help into electrical pulses which are sped over his

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