Biomimicry: Beaks on trains and
flipper-like turbines
By Katia Moskvitch Technology reporter, BBC News
By Katia Moskvitch Technology reporter, BBC News
Katia Moskvitch科技記者，BBC新聞
PS: Biomimicry是研究如何借用自然界中各種物種的生物過程，以解決人類所面臨問題的一門新興科學，新的英文詞彙被翻譯為「生物模擬」或是「仿生」。
Nature has been designing the world for
billions of years
大自然已經設計了數十億年的世界
大自然已經設計了數十億年的世界
Since the dawn of time, nature has been
working hard, engineering everyone and everything to the highest standards on
Earth.
自開天闢地以來，大自然一直努力工作，在地球上以高標準細工雕琢以造就每個人物和一切。
Dragonflies that can propel themselves in
any direction, sharks with skin with tiny scales that help them swim faster,
termites able to build dens that always keep a steady and comfortable
temperature inside - those examples are just a drop in the ocean of amazing
nature-designed solutions.
蜻蜓，可以驅動自己往任何方向，鯊魚皮膚微小的鱗片，可以幫助他們遊得更快，白蟻能夠建立一種始終保持一個穩定和舒適溫度的窩穴，
這些驚人的自然設計方案例子僅僅只是浩瀚海洋裡的一落滴。
Granted, there have been a few individual
attempts to copy nature's designs.
For instance, back in the 15th Century,
Italian painter Leonardo da Vinci looked at birds' anatomy while sketching his
"flying machine".
勉強算來，已經出現了一些個人試圖複製自然的設計。
例如，早在15世紀，意大利畫家達芬奇看著鳥類的解剖，同時繪製他的“飛行機器”。
His device never took off, but the Wright
brothers did manage to build the first aeroplane in 1903 - after years of
observing pigeons.
他的設備永遠不會起飛，但萊特兄弟經過觀察鴿子多年後於1903年著手建立第一架飛機。
Still, several decades had to pass before
businesses began realising that nature could really help them too.
Probably one of the most notable
nature-inspired technologies of the last century is the well-known
hook-and-loop fastener, Velcro. The man who invented it, Swiss George de
Mestral, is said to have been inspired by burrs he constantly removed from his
dog's fur.
然而，幾十年來過去後，企業開始意識到，大自然真的可以幫助他們。
上個世紀的最顯著的自然靈感技術之一大概是眾所周知的魔鬼氈黏扣帶。瑞士男子George de Mestral發明了它，他說他是經由不斷地黏貼他去除的狗毛而啟發。
Innovation and copycats
創新和模仿者
But it wasn't until the late 20th Century,
that many firms really started to devote time, money and often an entire team
of designers, specifically charged with looking at biological solutions to
technological hurdles they came across.
但事實是直到20世紀後期，許多企業在他們遇到障礙才真正開始投入時間，金錢，和整個團隊的設計師，以專門負責尋找生物方案以解決技術障礙。
"It is important to look at nature -
after all, it has had 3.8 billion years to come up with ideas," says
Janine Benyus, a natural history writer who coined the term
"biomimicry" in 1998.
Solar
cells that function just like leaves on a tree are
a lot more efficient and can work even in low light
Ms Benyus was the first person to really
describe this emerging science in her book Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by
Nature.
“重要的是看待自然 - 畢竟，它運行已經有38億年了”，在1998年創造的“仿生學”一詞的一個自然歷史作家Janine Benyus說：。
太陽能蓄電池功能就像一棵樹的樹葉是很有效率的，甚至可以在低度光源下運作
Benyus女士是第一個真正形容此種仿生學這門新興的科學：這是由自然啟發的創新。
She says that after the book went viral,
entrepreneurs from all over the world started calling her, seeking advice on
resolving a particular issue in a non-traditional, nature-copying way.
她說，出書後後遺病毒，是來自世界各地的企業家開始稱呼她的方式，為尋求解決特定問題的一個非傳統，自然複製的建議方式。
So the world's first Biomimicry Institute
was set up in 2005, with a team of consultants trained to help businesses.
"They come in, we learn what it is
they're trying to do, and we look for that same function in the natural world -
we do huge biological literature searches," says Ms Benyus.
"And then we say: 'Well, that's how
nature has done it for 3.8 billion years!'
"And it's always a lot less energy, a
lot less material, no toxins - a lot better."
Ms Benyus's clients range from Nasa to a
multitude of companies of many different domains.
世界上第一個仿生學研究所成立於 2005年，一組團隊訓練顧問以幫助企業。
Benyus女士說：“他們加入，使我們了解他們正在試圖做的是什麼，我們期待，在自然界中相同的功能 - 我們檢索探詢巨大的生物文獻”。 “然後我們可這樣說：”嗯，這就是大自然如何運行了38億年！“
“它總是減少能源很多，降低很多材料，沒有毒素 - 好了很多。”
Benyus女士的客戶範圍從美國太空總署到許多不同領域的公司。
According to a well-known economist Lynn
Reaser, on the global scale by 2025, biomimicry could affect about $1tn (£621
bn) of annual gross domestic product,
and account for up to 1.6 million US
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