In a previous life, I was a Science teacher. The topic that intrigued me most was animal adaptations. Thankfully or unfortunately, I never got to teach that topic because of COVID. To give our students some breathing space and grace, that chapter was removed from their curriculum.
Why do I find adaptations intriguing? I think it’s because they inspire us humans to develop and invent things that serve mankind better. Here are some examples that I have collated from various Science textbooks.
| Animal Adaptations | Human Application |
|---|---|
| Did you know that the skull bones of woodpeckers are spongy, so there is little room for fluid between the skull and the brain? That’s why they can hammer the tree bark at the rate of 18-22 times per second because the vibrations of such a great force are reduced. | Scientists are studying how to leverage this discovery to improve the shock absorbers used in the sports helmets that hockey and rugby players wear so that their brains will be prevented from suffering concussion-like injuries. |
| Did you know that wood frogs become frozen during winter? Their hearts stop beating and there is no brain activity. Apparently, special proteins in their blood, called nucleating proteins, will cause water in their blood to freeze into ice. When spring arrives, the ice in their bodies starts melting, causing blood to flow and hearts to pump. | Scientists are exploring the possibility of freezing and preserving organs for transplant. |
| Did you know that there is a strange state of matter in the eyes of a chicken called disordered hyperuniformity? This means that it behaves both like a solid and a liquid at the same time. This adaptation arises because light-detecting substances need to be squeezed into a single layer of tissue. Since these structures are of different sizes but need to be positioned in a relatively organised way, disordered hyperuniformity offers the ideal arrangement for the chicken’s eyes to function. | Knowing this could help inventors develop light detectors that are sensitive to only certain wavelengths of light. |
| Did you know that the cube-shaped boxfish is streamlined? It also has its strong and rigid, yet lightweight structure. Its skin is made of six-sided bony plates, which provide maximum strength for protection against injury. | Some scientists are inspired by its aerodynamic shape to design a car that cuts down on fuel consumption since there is less air resistance. Researchers have transferred the lightweight and strong structure to the car so that its walls have superior strength but weight only one-third of what it normally would using older technology? |
| Did you know that the sea cucumber spills its intestines and organs out at its predators and sneaks away? The poison in its guts is said to kill its predators. And don’t worry about the sea cucumber. It can re-grow its organs through a process called evisceration. | NA |
Sending some happy sats to @siggy47 because he wanted more animal articles.