How Animals Inspire Mankind to Great Inventions?

First, let me tell you what inspires me to write this hub--the red ants. One morning when I woke up and there were so many ants in my computer table, on top of my laptop and on the floor. Those ants didn't inspire me right away, instead I was very irritated. Honestly, they inspired me to create this hub after I think I killed them all. I grabbed an insecticide and sprayed it directly to them.

They normally have a path that they are following, so then I've traced it and I've sprayed that trace too, that path serves like as an imaginary pathway for them to get back and forth to where they want to go and to where they came from, which at that time obviously their destination where they've smelled foods that were available for them to store was at my laptop and my laptop area.

I was successful in destroying their imaginary pathway and I saw them die in few seconds after they inhaled or smelled the insecticides. I felt a little guilty killing them, I don't want to but red ants are well known for their really stingy bite. I don't want to be bitten while I am working on my computer and i don't want them to damage my laptop as well, so that scenario leaves me no choice but to eliminate them.

When I was already removing the dead ants, cleaning my laptop and computer area, that's when an idea came to mind about writing this hub. The inventor of insecticide probably experienced the same thing or worst that led and inspired him to invent the pesticide. I gave credit to Paul Muller for inventing the insecticide. I am not happy killing the ants, because I know they have their usefulness too, but I don't want to be bitten, nobody would like the idea of being bitten by red ants.

Now, I concluded that animals, insects, pests inspire mankind to create great inventions no matter what triggers that idea to come up. It can be negative in a sense that the inventor maybe got so pissed off that's why he's so motivated to create something that will eliminate them like insecticide. No matter what the reasons are, animals have a big part in inspiring inventors to come up with different gadgets that we're using nowadays. In every great discovery, there are deeper story that led and inspired the inventors in creating their inventions and most often those discoveries are accidental even up to date.

Scientist nowadays are also inspired to keep inventing and discovering more by just studying nature, plants, animals and many more. Animals, insects, pests, bacteria--yes they are mostly source of inspiration for continuous research and development. In fact, Science has a branch or department that solely dedicated to this type of research called Bionics.

This department is also called Bio-mimicry, which means that Scientists are trying to mimic the amazing capabilities of animals in creating functional gadgets and there are thousands of gadgets around of us nowadays that were created by mimicking the animals capabilities. Here are some inventions or things that I know that were inspired by animals how and why they were created.

Yes, air conditioner was inspired by termites. Scientists learned the termites way of cooling their mound and applied how they do it. In other words, Scientists mimic how they condition or ventilates the flow or cycle of air in their nest or mound that made them came up with what we love--the air conditioners. Yes we love air conditioners especially here in tropical country like Philippines. This gadget/equipment is a necessity for people who can afford it.

The termites nest is in the center of a large mound. From that large mound warm air rises into a network of air ducts near the surface, the stale air diffuses out the porous sides and fresh cool airs seeps in and descends into an air chamber at the bottom of the mound and from there it circulates into the nest. Some mounds have openings at the bottom where fresh air comes in. During hot weather, water brought up from the underground to let it evaporates thus cooling the air.

Submarines is one of the amazing inventions so far created, won't you agree? Consider yourself lucky if you have seen one in real or much more if you've ridden it. I've only seen submarines in Internet and movies like most people do. I will just hymn the 'Impossible Dream' song while thinking of seeing or riding it far, far someday. We don't need to actually experience, see or use the inventions ourselves to know it's importance and relevance to our world.

We know that in military field, submarines is very important in keeping the country's safety. This machine serves it's purpose that only military people understand it's worth and complexity and for us normal people are just enjoying the benefits. It's time for us to be grateful to fish, cuttlefish, chambered nautilus and microscopic radiolarians. Scientists studied their flotation techniques and buoyancy methods that lead to the existence of this amazing machine.

Does it take too long to read my article? Don’t worry as of now you are only spending few minutes if you're reading this far. The all generation popular quote "Time is gold" is applicable for everybody that is why we all want to monitor the time. We have our different stylish clocks everywhere. We are too concerned if we are on time or if we are wasting time. I can't imagine a world without clocks.

Before humans invented the sundials and clocks, fiddler crabs and diatoms did the tracking of time themselves. They have internal clocks telling them it's time to go out in the beach. Before, when humans have no clocks yet, were used or still using our internal clocks too, it is in our stomach. It's always working every few hours to remind us that it's time to eat.

In my opinion, clocks are very useful for people that are losing track of time, because some people just don't follow their internal clock when they are in table eating their meal. Putting a visible wall clock with big numbers in the kitchen will be very helpful. If you see that you're already spending longer than 30 minutes in the table, it's time to stop and leave the table. A very useful gadget indeed.

Before GPS becomes available in this high tech era, compass was a very useful gadget after 13^th century, meaning compass was created long time ago and was very helpful in navigators like Galileo. Again, humans were not the first to use compass. Animals like dolphins, birds, bees, butterflies, mollusks and some bacteria use their internal compass. They have magnetite that guide them to their preferred environments.

Scientists studied how all these animals can travel long distances, back and forth to their preferred destinations without fail. Although, we already use compass or know it's function, animals that have these amazing characteristics keep Scientists fascinated. The more they discover how perfectly animals can navigate using their internal compass, the more Scientists wanted to dig deeper. No reason for them to stop studying. Nothing, not at all.

I can't emphasize how important electricity is nowadays in our high tech world. All of these great technology inventions become possible to use or available to use, because they are normally run by this amazing element called “electricity”. The question is, do we have enough supply of electricity to run all these electricity operated gadgets? That is the very reason why scientist keeps on studying animals that can produce electricity power themselves like the South American electric eel. You can be electrocuted by this high voltage fish that have been measured to have 886 volts when you touch it. Let's keep hoping that Scientists soon can mimic how this electric eel can produce electricity, if that happens that will be a big leap for mankind, a cheaper electric bill.

Inventor of incubators deserve high recognition and appreciation especially from people who mostly benefits it and I am one of those people who commends them. There are different types of incubators available, depends on the field you are requiring it. Incubator is more common in the health care and medicine field than in business field, although there are businesses that use incubators too. Its importance is very relevant, because of it’s life saving capacity.

This equipment is a life saving tool for parents expecting a baby that has to be born early. With this life saving invention, the not matured baby will get the proper treatments he/she needs until he/she reach maturity. I thank the animals like malle bird personally. My daughter when she was born needed to stay in incubator for less than a week for her complete maturity. Without this invention, I don't know if my daughter will be able to survive. She's two years old now, that's why I am so grateful that this invention personally touched my life and my daughter's life.

What is life without love, (oh I don’t mean to sing I just remember that lyrics) that lyrics I relate it to the fact that jet propulsion is important for the airplane to operate. What is plane without jet propulsion? Thanks to the animals like squid and octopus, they inspired scientists in creating jet propulsion which make airplane completely functional or to say it short makes the airplane an airplane. Animals using jet propulsion are: the chambered nautilus, scallops, jellyfish, dragonfly larvae and some oceanic plankton.

The amazing ability of the firefly in producing cold light still amaze Scientists, the very fact of how this tiny animals are able to do it. Although Tomas Edison was credited in inventing the light bulb but his inventions was not so efficient, because the light bulb loses the energy in the form of heat. Very opposite of what the firefly is capable of doing, producing a light that is cold and doesn't lose energy. Scientists up to date are trying their best to copy the abilities of fireflies in producing lighting that don’t lose energy.

Paper is an all time mankind's useful inventions since it's been created. I am sure no matter how advanced our technology become, paper will never lose it's value and importance. Long time ago before paper was invented, people use unique way in keeping their important records. Egyptians wrote their records in the wall and Greeks used hieroglyphics in the form of stone.

In bible times, prophets use some form of leather, where they wrote their books of bibles. Those books of bible were discovered and then turned and compiled them into complete book of bible later on after the invention of paper. They should have done better before only if they were able to discover and see how wasps, hornets and yellow jackets were able to produce paper by themselves. These wing animals chewed the weather wood producing a gray paper to make their nest.

I concluded that if people even during the bible times discovered paper early enough, we probably have clear information about the past, about the history, and about bible times history.

How long can you hold your breath under water? Probably few seconds! Are you brave enough to even think of exploring the sea under without strapping an oxygen tank in your back? I am sure you will not. Now with the use of oxygen tank, this equipment enables us to breathe underwater. The length how long you can stay under depends on the size of the the oxygen tank that you are capable of carrying under. Ocean explorer, scuba divers and deep sea navigators for sure are very thankful that this gadget was created. Let's thanks the beetles. They inspired scientists in creating and applying the principles how the oxygen can work underwater and how it made it possible for us to breathe underwater.

These few examples of copying from animals by humans improve our daily lives. Some of them are probably being useful to you already without your awareness. In fact, these copying methods make our lives easier and comfortable. While you are reading this hub, you might have realized that--yes indeed we have reasons to be thankful in every living creature, animals, pest, insects around us, because we don't know what is their value or significance in our world today or in the future. Maybe now you will look at insects like I do now, not only in their destructive annoying existence, but also the value or worth they will bring in the eyes of Scientists in the Bionics field.