Design from Nature – 8
- POSTED ON: 8 Sep, 2017
- TOTAL VIEWS: 834 Views
- POSTED BY: Chari Vijayaraghavan
- ARTICLE POINTS: 100 Points
Beavers are known for their natural trait of building dams on rivers and streams, and building their homes (known as ‘lodges’) in the resulting pond. Beavers also build canals to float building materials that are difficult to haul over land.
One of the main reasons they stay warm during their swimming, diving and other antics in water is a layer of ‘blubber’. Another important aspect is their fur – it is so dense that it traps warm pockets of air in between the layers, keeping them not only warm but also dry. This has been something that scientists have tried to emulate when designing wetsuits.
Surfers spend a lot of time in water and constantly get splashed by waves. Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T) think rubbery, fur-like pelts in wetsuits might help the surfers keep themselves warm and dry as well. Let’s see how this science develops over the next few years!