BIOMIMICRY

I find biomimicry just amazing. This is when design challenges are solved by looking at nature. I drew this kingfisher illustration after reading an article by the Guardian on bioengineering. There was a challenge in Japan: the Shinkansen bullet train created too much noise disturbance when going through narrow tunnels. People as far as 400 meters away were bothered by the sound. So the engineer, Eiji Nakatsu, who is a birdwatcher in his spare time, came up with an idea on how to deal with the sudden changes in air pressure when entering tunnels. He redesigned the nose of the trains according to the beak of the kingfisher bird and with this design adjustment he minimised the sound disturbance and reduced the pressure by thirty percent.