Tessa Miller - Fur & Claws: Technology Inspired by Animals

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FuR &

ClaWs

Tessa Miller

PRESS

Fur & Claws

Animal Tech

Copyright 2019

Published by Full Tilt Press

Written by Tessa Miller

All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission,

except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Full Tilt Press

42982 Osgood Road

Fremont, CA 94539

readfulltilt.com

Full Tilt Press publications may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use.

Editorial Credits

Design and layout by Sara Radka

Edited by Renae Gilles

Copyedited by Kristin J. Russo

Image Credits

Getty Images: background, cover, Blend Images, 27, DigitalVision, 25, 29, 30, EyeEm, 3 (cat), 13, 18, 26, 29

(detail), 35 (detail), EyeEm Premium, 15, georgeclerk, 31, iStockphoto, 1, 3 (syringes), 3 (sheep), 4, 6, 7, 8,

10, 11, 11 (detail), 14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22 (detail), 22, 23, 23 (detail), 24, 28 (detail), 28, 32, 34, 34 (detail), 40

(detail), 43, 45, kokouu, 5, Moment RF, 3 (polar bear), 12, 35, 44; NASA, 37, 39, 41; Newscom: imagebroker/

Rolf Nussbaumer, 36, Jonathan Alcorn/ZUMAPRESS, 33, NHPA/Photoshot, 10 (detail), Ringo Chiu/ZUMAPRESS,

38, Science Photo Library, 9, WENN.com, 42; Shutterstock: cover, 40, 41 (detail); Wikimedia, 16 (detail)

ISBN: 978-1-62920-739-1 (library binding)

ISBN: 978-1-68452-127-2 (eBook)

PRESS

CoNtEnTs

Introduction ...................................... 4

Fur with Burs & Velcro ...................... 6

Polar Bears & Fabric ....................... 12

Cats Eyes & Road Reectors ..........

Porcupine Quills &

HypodermicNeedles ......................

Bones & Buildings ........................... 30

Gophers &

Drilling Machines on Mars ............. 36

Conclusion ....................................... 42

Activity ............................................ 44

Glossary ........................................... 46

Read More ........................................ 47

Index ................................................ 48

4 Animal Tech

Scientists searching for ways to improve

hypodermic needles are looking at

porcupine quills for inspiration .

species : a group of plants or animals with similar features

diversity : variety ; the state of being made up of many dierent things

technology : tools and knowledge used to meet a need or solve a problem

vaccine : a medicine that protects people against a disease

InTrOdUcTiOn

There are more than 5,000 species of mammals on Earth .

Mammals are animals with fur . They have live babies they

nourish with milk . They can y , swim , run , crawl , jump , and

hover . Some can even lay eggs . This diversity is why scientists

often look to mammals for ideas . They use these ideas to help solve

problems and create new technology . This is called biomimicry .

Bio means life . Mimicry is when you copy something else .

Mammals have inspired advances in all elds of technology .

By studying animals , Doctors have improved vaccines . Mammal fur

has helped make man-made fabrics warmer . Robotic arms have been

improved by studying elephant trunks . Scientists also study people

to improve technology . By studying the human brain , they improved

CAT scan machines . These machines can now map emotions . Right now ,

scientists are looking at many mammals for ideas . They want to help people

live longer , healthier , better lives .

Fur & Claws

Hypodermic needles were

invented in the 1850s . Now

they are being improved

through the study of animals .

6 Animal Tech

Cockleburs may be annoying ,

but they wont harm animals

unless they are swallowed .

FuR

with

bUrS

Velcro

engineer : a person who plans and builds tools , machines , or structures

cocklebur : a owering plant with round , spiky pods that hold its seeds

Have you ever gone out walking with your dog and noticed small

pieces of plants sticking to his legs ? This happened to Swiss engineer

George de Mestral .

One day , de Mestral returned from a hike . He noticed cockleburs

stuck to his dogs fur . He became curious about them . The burs were

able to hold fast . But they could be pulled o fairly easily . He decided to

study them .

Burs can latch and unlatch from fur very easily . But it took him years

to understand how they worked . Once he did , he decided to make a version

himself . After years of work , he invented Velcro in 1955 . Velcro comes

from two French words , velour and crochet , which mean velvet and hook .

Fur & Claws

Velcro

The company VELCRO

now makes 35,000

dierent products .

LeSsOnS fRoM NaTuRe

The outside of a cocklebur is covered in thousands of little hooks . Tangled

animal fur forms tiny , soft loops . When an animal brushes against a cocklebur ,

the hooks fasten onto the soft loops . Velcro is made of two sides . One side has

hook-like barbs . The other one has soft loops . The two sides latch when they

are pressed together .

8 Animal Tech

The tiny hooks on a cocklebur allow it to latch onto an

animal . When the animal scratches or bites it o , or

brushes against something else , the bur falls to the ground .

At rst , de Mestral made Velcro to replace

zippers and buttons on clothes . Both sides were

made of cotton . But the cotton hooks gave out after

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