The humpback whale has pronounced bumps or tubercles along the leading edge of its pectoral flippers (above left). A idealized model of the flipper (above upper right), which was tested in a wind tunnel, demonstrated that the tubercles enhanced hydrodynamic performance…
Technical application:
airblade, turbine, windmill
Technical application:
swim suit, clean surfaces, glue this foil on airplanes, small riffles will cause turbulance and degrease friction.
The sandfish is a species of skink that burrows into the sand and swims through it.
Technical application:
reduce friction, might help rescue teams to “dive” into collapsed buildings
Using design principles inspired by the nanoscopic hairs on the gecko, UC Berkeley researchers and colleagues have created a novel microfiber array which has very high friction but is not “sticky”.
Technical application:
car tires, drive on solar panels