Modern radar - a radio positioning and ranging device: Scientists have discovered that bats rely not on their eyes, but on an echolocation system composed of their mouth, throat and ears. Because bats emit ultrasonic waves when flying, they can also detect ultrasonic waves reflected back from obstacles. Based on this, scientists designed a modern radar - a radio positioning and ranging device

Through research on the low swimming resistance of dolphins, scientists invented artificial dolphin skin that can increase the speed of torpedoes; and imitated the movement of kangaroos. Wheelless vehicles (jumping machines) in the form of desert sports, etc.

Inspired by penguins, scientists from the Institute of Zoology of the Academy of Sciences of the former Soviet Union designed a new type of car - the "Penguin" brand polar off-road vehicle. The wide bottom of this kind of car is directly attached to the snow surface, and it is propelled forward by the wheel scoop, and the driving speed can reach 50 kilometers per hour.

Scientists imitated insects to create space robots.

A research team at the Australian National University has developed a small navigation and flight control device through research on several insects. This device could be used to equip small aircraft for Mars exploration.

Inspired by bionics, British scientists are developing a submarine that can "swim" in an S-shape by swinging its tail fin. The main innovation of the new submarine is the use of what is called an "elephant trunk actuator" " device. The "trunk" consists of a set of flexible tubes made of thin, flexible material that mimic muscle activity and propel the movement of the fins. This new submarine can serve as an underwater minesweeper, used to deal with mines that can detonate at the slightest sound or disturbance.

The annoying flies seem to have nothing to do with the magnificent aerospace industry, but bionics has closely linked them.

Flies are notorious as "stinky hunters", and they can be found in any smelly and dirty place. Flies have a particularly sensitive sense of smell and can detect odors thousands of meters away. But a fly does not have a "nose", so how does it rely on its sense of smell? It turns out that the fly's "nose" - olfactory receptors are distributed on a pair of antennae on the head.

Each "nose" has only one "nostril" connected to the outside world, which contains hundreds of olfactory nerve cells. If an odor enters the "nostrils", these nerves immediately convert the odor stimulation into nerve electrical impulses and send them to the brain. The brain can distinguish different odor substances based on the differences in the nerve electrical impulses generated by different odor substances. Therefore, the fly's antennae act like a sensitive gas analyzer.

Bionics scientists were inspired by this and successfully copied a very peculiar small gas analyzer based on the structure and function of the fly's olfactory organ. The "probe" of this instrument is not a metal but a live fly. It is to insert very thin microelectrodes into the olfactory nerves of flies, and amplify the electrical nerve signals guided by electronic circuits and send them to the analyzer; once the analyzer detects the signal of odorous substances, it can sound an alarm. This instrument has been installed in the cockpit of the spacecraft to detect the composition of the gas inside the cabin.

This small gas analyzer can also measure harmful gases in submarines and mines. Using this principle, it can also be used to improve the input device of the computer and the structural principles of the gas chromatography analyzer.

From fireflies to artificial cold light

Since humans invented the electric light, life has become much more convenient and rich. However, electric lamps can only convert a small part of the electrical energy into visible light, and most of the rest is wasted in the form of heat energy, and the heat rays of electric lamps are harmful to human eyes. So, is there a light source that only emits light but does not generate heat? Human beings have turned their attention to nature again.

In nature, there are many organisms that can emit light, such as bacteria, fungi, worms, molluscs, crustaceans, insects and fish, etc., and the light emitted by these animals does not produce heat, so it is Known as "cold light".

Among the many luminous animals, fireflies are one of them. There are about 1,500 species of fireflies. The colors of the cold light they emit range from yellow-green to orange, and the brightness of the light also varies. The cold light emitted by fireflies not only has high luminous efficiency, but also the cold light emitted is generally very soft, which is very suitable for human eyes, and the light intensity is relatively high. Therefore, biolight is an ideal light for humans.

Scientists have discovered that fireflies’ light emitters are located on their abdomens. This light emitter consists of three parts: a luminescent layer, a transparent layer and a reflective layer. The luminescent layer contains thousands of luminescent cells, which contain two substances, luciferin and luciferase. Under the action of luciferase, luciferin combines with oxygen to emit fluorescence with the participation of intracellular water. The glow of fireflies is essentially the process of converting chemical energy into light energy.

As early as the 1940s, people created fluorescent lamps based on research on fireflies, which brought about great changes in human lighting sources. In recent years, scientists first isolated pure luciferin from the light emitters of fireflies, then isolated luciferase, and then used chemical methods to artificially synthesize luciferin. A biological light source mixed with luciferin, luciferase, ATP (adenosine triphosphate) and water can be used as a flashlight in mines filled with explosive gas.

Since this kind of light has no power source and does not generate a magnetic field, it can be used to clear magnetic mines under the illumination of biological light sources.

Now, people can obtain cold light similar to biological light by mixing certain chemical substances, which can be used as safety lighting.

Electric fish and volt batteries

There are many creatures in nature that can produce electricity, and there are more than 500 species of fish alone. People refer to these fish that can discharge electricity as "electric fish".

Various electric fish have different discharge abilities. The ones with the strongest discharge ability are electric rays, electric catfish and electric eels. A medium-sized electric ray can produce about 70 volts, while the African electric ray can produce up to 220 volts; the African electric catfish can produce 350 volts; the electric eel can produce 500 volts, and there is a South American electric eel. It can produce voltages up to 880 volts, making it the electric shock champion. It is said that it can kill large animals like horses.

What is the secret of electric fish discharge? After anatomical research on electric fish, it was finally discovered that there is a strange power-generating organ in the body of electric fish. These generators are made of many translucent disc-shaped cells called electroplates or electrodisks. Because there are different types of electric fish, the shape, location, and number of electric panels of the generator are different. The electric eel's generator is prismatic and is located in the muscles on both sides of the tail spine; the electric ray's generator is shaped like a flat kidney, arranged on both sides of the body's midline, with a total of 2 million electric plates; the electric catfish's generator Originating from some kind of gland, located between the skin and muscles, there are about 5 million electrical plates. The voltage generated by a single electric plate is very weak, but because there are many electric plates, the voltage generated is very large.

The extraordinary ability of electric fish has aroused great interest among people. In the early 19th century, Italian physicist Volta designed the world's earliest voltaic battery using the electric fish's power-generating organ as a model. Because this battery is designed based on the natural generator of electric fish, it is called an "artificial electric organ." Research on electric fish has also given people this revelation: If the power-generating organ of electric fish can be successfully imitated, then the power problems of ships and submarines can be well solved.

Jellyfish's Wind-Earing

"Swallows fly low to clear the rain, and cicadas chirp in the middle of the rain and the sky clears up." There is a certain relationship between the behavior of living things and changes in the weather. Coastal fishermen all know that when fish and jellyfish living on the coast swim to the sea in groups, it indicates that a storm is coming.

Jellyfish, also called jellyfish, is an ancient coelenterate that floated in the ocean as early as 500 million years ago. This lower animal has the instinct to predict storms. Whenever a storm approaches, it swims to the sea for refuge.

Bionics gives 15 examples:

1. A very peculiar small gas analyzer has been copied from a nasty fly. It has been installed in the cockpit of the spacecraft to detect the composition of the gas in the cabin.

2. From fireflies to artificial luminescence;

3. Electric fish and volt batteries;

4. The jellyfish's downwind ears are modeled after the structure and function of the jellyfish's ears. The jellyfish ear storm predictor is designed to predict storms 15 hours in advance, which is of great significance to the safety of navigation and fisheries.

5. Based on the visual principle of frog eyes, people have successfully developed an electronic frog eye. This electronic frog eye can accurately identify objects of specific shapes just like real frog eyes. After installing electronic frog eyes into the radar system, the radar's anti-interference ability is greatly improved. This radar system can quickly and accurately identify aircraft, ships, missiles, etc. of specific shapes. In particular, it can distinguish between real and fake missiles to prevent fakes from being confused with real ones.

Electronic frog eyes are also widely used in airports and traffic arteries. At the airport, it can monitor the takeoff and landing of aircraft, and if it detects that the aircraft is about to collide, it can issue an alarm in time. In traffic arteries, it can direct the movement of vehicles and prevent vehicle collisions.

6. Based on the principle of bat ultrasonic locator, people also imitated the "pathfinder" for blind people. This kind of pathfinder is equipped with an ultrasonic transmitter, which can be used by blind people to find electric poles, steps, people on bridges, etc. Nowadays, "ultrasound glasses" with similar functions have been made.

7. By simulating the incomplete photosynthesizer of cyanobacteria, a biomimetic photolysis water device will be designed to obtain a large amount of hydrogen.

8. Based on research on the human skeletal muscle system and bioelectrical control, a human enhancement device - a walking machine - has been imitated.

9. The hooks of modern cranes originated from the paws of many animals.

10. The roof corrugations imitate animal scales.

11. The oars imitate the fins of a fish.

12. The saw is learned from the mantis arm, or sawgrass.

13. The Xanthium plant inspired Velcro.

14. Lobsters with a keen sense of smell provide ideas for people to build odor detectors.

15. Gecko toes offer encouraging prospects for making sticky tape that can be used over and over again.

16. Bay uses its proteins to create a colloid that is so strong that such a colloid could be used in everything from surgical sutures to boat repairs.