"I have a suspicion", one biologist said, "that we're not the innovators we think we are; we're merely the repeaters". Many times, human investors only repeat what plants and animals have been doing for thousands of years. This copying from a living things is so prevalent that it has been given its own name - bionics
AIRPLANES. The design of airplane wings has benefited over the years from the study of the wings of birds.
AIR CONDITIONING. Modern technology cools many homes , but long before, termites also cooled theirs and they still do.
THERMOMETER. From the 17th century onward men have developed thermometer but they are crude compared to some found in nature. A mosquito's antennae can sense a change of 1/300 degree Fahrenheit. A rattlesnake has pits on the sides of its head with which it can sense a change of 1/600 degree Fahrenheit and so many animals.
LIGHTING. Thomas Edison is credited with inventing the light bulb. But it is not too efficient, as it loses energy in the form of heat. Fireflies do better as they flash their lights that loses no energy. Many fungi, sponge , bacteria and worms glow brightly.
ELECTRICITY. Some 500 varieties of electric fish have batteries. The African catfish can produce 350 volts. The giant electric Ray of the North Atlantic puts out 50 Ampere pulses of 60 volts.
FARMING. For ages men have tilled the soil and tended livestock. Some ants keep aphids as livestock, milk sugary honeydew from them and even barns to shelter them. Harvester ants store seeds in the underground granaries.
JET PROPULSION. Today when you fly in a plane you are probably being jet-propelled. Many animals are also jet-propelled and have been for millenniums. Both the octopus and the squid Excel in this. They suck water into a special chamber and then , expel it with powerful force shooting themselves forward.
CLOCK . Long before people user sundial, clock In living organisms were keeping accurate time. When the tide is out, microscopic plants called diatoms come to the surface of wet beach sand and go down into the sand when the tide In the diatoms go down.
Etcetera etcetera, I can keep mentioning how living organisms were the inspirers of many scientific discoveries. All the fundamental areas of human technology have been opened up and utilized to advantage by living things before the human mind learned to understand and master their functions.
