译者 Lineker
For elegance and efficiency in design, Mother Nature takes gold. Compared with our technology, Nature’s solutions are often less wasteful, longer lived, self-maintaining and typically stronger, faster and lighter.
若以设计的优雅和效率而论，大自然是当之无愧的冠军。与人类的技术相比，自然母亲的解决方案通常更为经济、更坚固耐用，且能够自我维护，在强度、速度和轻便度上更是远远超出了人类。
Engineers looking for new ideas have found inspiration in nature's designs. Biomimicry, or "life imitating,” is a time-honored route to innovation, stretching back at least to the 15th century, when Leonardo DaVinci studied birds to create plans for flying machines.
那些寻求新设计理念的工程师们一直在从自然设计中寻找灵感。仿生学，或称之为“生物模拟”，是由来已久的创新之路，其出现的历史至少可以上溯至十五世纪，当时莱昂纳多·达芬奇通过研究鸟类来尝试制造飞行器。
In celebration of Nature’s clever creativity we’ve collected a sampling of the coolest biomimetic applications and areas of research.
自然奇妙的创造力令人类仰视，为了向这种天生之伟力致敬，我们将世界上最酷的仿生学应用和研究领域罗列了出来，并一一展现在读者面前。
The Kingfisher and the Shinkansen Train
翠鸟和新干线高速列车
Engineers building an upgrade to Japan’s Shinkansen, or bullet trains, succeeded in making them travel 200 miles per hour, but their noise exceeded environmental standards. As a train traveled into a narrow tunnel it would create a sonic boom upon exiting.
工程师们在对日本的新干线高速列车进行升级之后，成功的将时速提升至320公里每小时，但新问题随之而来，如此之高的速度导致列车的噪音超出了环保标准，例如，当列车驶出狭窄的隧道时就会产生音爆。
Part of the problem was a blunt, bullet-shaped nose which pushed air in front of it rather than slicing through. To solve the problem, engineers took inspiration from the bills of kingfishers, which can dive into water with scarcely a splash.
音爆产生的部分原因在于列车粗短的子弹型车头会挤压前方的空气，而不是穿过去。为了解决这个问题，工程师们从翠鸟的喙上找到了灵感，翠鸟鸟嘴的结构能让它在潜入水中时很少溅起水花。
Kingfishers wedge themselves into water with a streamlined beak that gradually increases in diameter from tip to head, letting water flow past. By modeling bullet train noses on kingfisher beaks, West Japan Railway Company engineers created the 500 series, which entered service in 1997. The trains are quieter, 10 percent faster and use 15 percent less electricity.
翠鸟流线型的长喙从尖端到头部的直径是逐渐增大的，潜水时会让水流向身后。通过将子弹头列车的车头部分改造成翠鸟鸟喙的形状，西日本铁路公司（West Japan Railway Company）的工程师们成功开发出新型的500系列列车，并于1997年投入使用。这种列车不仅噪音较低，而且行驶速度快了10%，电能消耗减少了15%。
Images: 1) AskNature.org. 2) Wikipedia.org.
图片：1）AskNature.org；2）Wikipedia.org
Strong Like a Tree
强壮如树
Trees and bones are strong and relatively lightweight. To distribute stress uniformly, trees add wood at the heaviest load points. Bones remove material from areas where it isn’t needed to lighten skeletal frameworks. Engineers have incorporated structural design lessons from trees and bones into software design programs for optimizing the weight and performance of materials.
树干和骨骼不仅非常强韧，而且重量相对较轻。为了使压力能够均匀分布，树会在承重最多的位置增加材质；而骨骼则会从那些不必要的位置去掉多余的物质，以此来减轻骨骼框架的重量。工程师们已经将树木和骨骼的结构特点融入到软件设计方案中，对设计对象的重量和外观进行优化。
Mercedes’ Bionic concept car was built for lightweight strength, taking inspiration from trees and boxfishes. While the low-emission Bionic car was never mass-produced, Mercedes has used similar design principles in subsequent cars produced for market.
梅赛德斯公司的Bionic概念车从大树和箱鲀上汲取了设计灵感，车身分量极轻，却非常牢固。虽然这款小排量的汽车并没有被大批量生产，但梅赛德斯却将相似的设计理念运用到其他量产车型上。
Images: 1) AskNature.org. 2) Daimler AG/Creative Commons.
图片：1）AskNature.org；2）Daimler AG/Creative Commons
Bendy, Self-Repairing Concrete
可自我修复的柔韧混凝土
A small cut might leave us cursing and reaching for a BandAid, but it’s rarely serious. Our circulatory system, a three-dimensional micro-vascular network, soon sends our skin materials to help repair the damage.
一道小小的刀口就会让我们疼得龇牙咧嘴，到处找创可贴，其实这样的伤口通常并不严重。我们的循环系统就如同一个立体的微血管网络，它会很快制造出相关材料，帮助我们修复损伤。
Engineers from University of Michigan created concrete that has a skin-like ability to heal itself when cracked. They used special microfibers, rather than coarse bits of gravel and sand, to strengthen the cement. The fibers allow the concrete to bend and crack in narrow hair-width fractures rather than gaping splits. When cracked, the concrete absorbs moisture from surrounding air, then becomes soft and “grows,” filling in the crack. Meanwhile, calcium ions in the cement also absorb moisture and carbon dioxide, forming calcium carbonate -- the material found in seashells. The regrowth and re-hardening makes the broken concrete strong again.
密歇根大学的工程师们发明了一种具有皮肤般自动愈合功能的混凝土。他们用特殊的超细纤维来替代粗糙的砂石颗粒，以强化水泥。纤维可以使混凝土弯曲并出现头发丝细的裂纹，而不是直接裂出口子。出现裂纹以后，混凝土会从周围的空气中吸收水蒸气，变软进而“生长”，从而将裂缝填充起来。同时，水泥中的钙离子也会吸收水分和二氧化碳，形成碳酸钙——碳酸钙是贝壳的主要成分。再生和再度硬化会使破损的水泥再次变得牢固起来。
While this self-healing concrete initially costs three times what traditional concrete does, over a structure's lifetime it can pay for itself with reductions in repair costs.
虽然自修复混凝土的生产成本是传统混凝土的三倍，但考虑到建筑使用过程中维修费用的降低，因此收回成本并不是什么难事。
Images: 1) John DellAngelo/Flickr. 2) Nicole Casal Moore, University of Michigan News Service and College of Engineering.
图片：1）John DellAngelo/Flickr；2）Nicole Casal Moore，密歇根大学新闻服务和工程学院
Fighting Germs Like a Shark
像鲨鱼一样对抗病菌
Unlike the skin of whales and manatees, shark skin doesn’t pick up algae or barnacles. This seems to be due to little scales called “dermal denticles.”
与鲸类和海牛这些海生哺乳动物不同，鲨鱼的皮肤不会附生海藻或藤壶，这可能要归结于其皮肤上被称之为“肤齿”的微小鳞屑。
Sharklet is an engineered surface that, through pattern alone, inhibits bacterial growth. The company, Sharklet Technologies, Inc., sells adhesive-backed films for covering surfaces and manufactures the pattern into medical devices like urinary catheters.
Sharklet是一种仅通过图案设计就能防止细菌生长的工程化表面结构。开发出这种结构的 Sharklet Technologies公司正在出售用于覆盖表面的粘附胶带，并制造了一些带有这种图案的医疗器材如导尿管等。
Images: 1) AskNature.org. 2) Sharkskin closeup/Sharklet Technologies.
图片：1）AskNature.org；2）Sharkskin closeup/Sharklet Technologies
Automatic Water Delivery
自动输水系统
The Thorny Devil, or Moloch horridus, gathers all its water through channels in its skin. When air cools at night, dew collects on the lizard’s skin and is pulled to its mouth by capillary action.
有带刺魔鬼之称的澳洲魔蜥会通过皮肤上的槽型结构来给水。待晚间空气温度下降，凝结在蜥蜴皮肤上的露珠就可以通过毛细管作用输送到它的口中。
If passive systems could collect and distribute naturally distilled water, it could help millions of people easily obtain clean, fresh water.
如果被动输送系统能够用来收集和分配天然的蒸馏水，那它也能够帮助数以百万计的人们轻松获取干净的淡水。
Images: 1) AskNature.org.
图片：1）AskNature.org
Less Painful, Mosquito-Style Needles
能减少疼痛的蚊式针头
Whatever the red, itchy aftermath, a mosquito’s initial injection is often painless. The bug’s serrated proboscis touches the skin’s nerves at fewer points than it would if smooth。
虽然被蚊子叮后皮肤会长出红包，而且奇痒难当，但它一开始刺入皮肤是不会产生痛感的。因为不光滑的缘故，所以蚊子锯齿状的尖喙会较少触碰到皮肤中的神经。
In the quest for a less painful needle, engineers at Kansai University in Osaka, Japan are creating tiny, jagged-edged needle modeled after a mosquito's proboscis. Unlike the flat cylindrical tubes of traditional needles, two serrated shanks form their needle's exterior, while a central shaft slides between.
为了减少穿刺时的疼痛感，日本大阪市关西大学的工程师们以蚊子的尖喙为模型创造出一种带有锯齿边缘的微小针头。和平滑的圆柱形传统针头不同，这种针头的外部是两段锯齿条，中空的部分可以在锯齿条之间滑动。
Images: 1) AskNature.org. 2) Seiji Aoyagi.
图片：1）AskNature.org；2）Seiji Aoyagi
All-Natural Air Conditioning
纯天然空调
The inside of a termite mound stays at near-constant temperature and humidity, no matter how wet, dry, scorching or freezing it might be outside. To do this, termites open and close a series of heating and cooling vents throughout the day.
不管外面的天气是潮湿还是干燥，是炙热还是严寒，白蚁巢穴的内部都可以保持恒温恒湿。为了做到这一点，白蚁需要不断的打开和关闭一系列的冷热通风孔。
When planning the Eastgate Shopping Center and office block in Harare, Zimbabwe, architect Mike Pearce studied the structure of termite mounds. Today, Eastgate uses 10 percent of the energy required by similar conventional buildings. Eastgate’s energy savings also allow its rental rates to be lower.
在规划津巴布韦首都哈拉雷市的东门购物中心和办公大楼时，建筑师迈克·皮尔斯（Mike Pearce）就研究了白蚁巢穴的构造。在落成之后，东门购物中心的能耗仅为传统建筑的10%，能耗的减少使得铺位的租金也随之降低。
Images: AskNature.org.
图片：1）AskNature.org
Building a Better Surfboard
制造更好的冲浪板
Ripples on the leading edge of humpback fins help the whales slice through water with grace and dexterity. Called tubercules, they reduce drag and allow humpbacks to “grip” the water and swim in tight circles, despite their enormous size.
座头鲸鳍部前缘的波纹结构能帮助它优雅灵活的穿梭于海水之中。这种被称之为结节的结构可以减少阻力，让座头鲸紧紧“扣住”水流，从而确保它能够以庞大的身形绕着小圈巡游。
Surfboard developers Fluid Earth built a fin patterned on humpback flippers.
受此启发，冲浪板开发商Fluid Earth就发明了一款带有座头鲸鳍部结构的冲浪板。
Images: AskNature.org.
图片：1）AskNature.org
Underwater RFID Tags
水下无线射频识别标签
Tiny layers in the wing scales of blue morpho butterflies reflect light at multiple angles, leading to the interference patterns we see as iridescence.
蓝色大闪蝶翅膀上的细微层状结构会以不同角度反射光线，从而呈现出彩虹一般的干涉图样来。
Omni-ID, a company that makes radio frequency ID tags, studied this reflection in their quest to create a tag that could be read through a metal mesh and in water. An intricate set of metal layers focuses and manipulates incoming radio waves, allowing the tag to send back a clear signal.
生产无线射频身份标签的Omni-ID公司通过研究这种反射模式，发明出一种能透过金属网格或在水下都能读取的标签。这套装置以一系列精巧的金属片来聚焦和操控入射的无限电波，使标签将清晰的信号反射回来。
Images: 1) AskNature.org. 2) RFID Radio
图片：1）AskNature.org；2）RFID Radio
