Duration: 1st February – 29th February 2020
Number of books: 7
Hosted by: Crazy Challenge Connection
February 2020 Scavenger – HOW INVENTIONS ARE BORN
Timeframe: 2/1/20 to 2/29/20
6/7
Information found in Cosmos Magazine.
How are inventions born? Sometimes living systems or even daily activities can directly inspire scientists and engineers to develop new technologies.
This challenge commemorates International Darwin Day, which is celebrated annually on February 12, on the anniversary of the birth of evolutionary biologist Charles Darwin. Darwin Day is billed as a global celebration of science, humanity, and reason.
TASKS:
1. Velcro
In 1941, Swiss engineer George de Mestral went hunting in the Alps and afterwards noticed his clothes were covered in burdock burrs. This mechanism of clinging to passing creatures is the burdock’s way of spreading seeds across greater distances. Mestral put one of the burrs under a microscope and discovered the simple hooks which allowed it to cling to loops in his socks. Ten years later, Mestral obtained a patent for a new fabric fastener, which we now know as Velcro.
⚙️Read a book whose title starts with “V” or ENDS with “O” (disregard A, An, The) – or – a book with some sort of fastener on the cover (a zipper, button, etc. be creative – post the cover). – Virgin River by Robyn Carr
2. Gecko skin
A gecko’s strong grip depends on rows of tiny hairs, called setae, on its toes, which can cling to any surface. The advantage is a reversible, strong grip, without the need for an adhesive. Engineers have created something similar from silicone, leading to variations of gecko-skin technology. Among them is a gizmo to allow humans to climb a sheer glass wall, as well as robots being able to pull objects hundreds of times their own weight and grippers for space repairs. A future robot called LEMUR (Limbed Excursion Mechanical Utility Robot), with very gecko-like feet could inspect and maintain installations on the International Space Station.
⚙️Read a book with some sort of robot in the story – or – a book where the author’s first AND last initial can be found in LEMUR.
3. Leggy robots
On uneven terrain, such as a wild mountainside or the rugged terrain of Mars, legs can get you places wheels can’t go. DARPA has developed a series of four-legged robots based on dogs and cheetahs to deliver supplies on a battlefield. Meanwhile NASA is working on a six-legged robot called ATHLETE (All-Terrain Hex-Legged Extra-Terrestrial Explorer). This has a wheel at the end of each leg, which can roll easily, but when it runs against an obstacle it can lock down the wheels and step neatly over.
⚙️Read book #4 or #6 in a series (tell us the series) – or – a book showing legs on the cover–not the rest of the body, just legs, feet are optional 🙂 (show us the cover). – Falling for the Highlander by Lynsay Sands
4. Bullet train kingfisher
A bullet train emerging from a tunnel generates a tremendous thunderclap due to the air-pressure that builds up in front of the nose. In the 1990’s a Japanese engineer Eiji Nakatsu noticed that kingfisher birds could dive into the water with barely a splash. His design for the Shinkansen bullet train, based on the kingfisher beak, not only reduced the noise of the train but was also more aerodynamic, using less power and enabling higher speeds.
⚙️Read a book with some sort of bird on the cover OR in the title – or – a book originally published in the 1990’s (tell us the year). – Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela (1994)
5. Flight – maple seed
With their rotor-like design, maple seeds whirl in the air as they fall. The lift generated through the spinning allows them to travel much further from the tree. Lockheed Martin adapted this design for a single rotor drone called Samurai. Its simple design has only two moving parts and so can be easily miniaturized. The US Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has taken on the project and aims to produce the drone to be used for reconnaissance in tight quarters.
⚙️Read the second book of a series (tell us the series) – or – a book with some sort of flying man-made machine on the cover (show us the cover). – Gone with the Witch by Annette Blair
6. Candy-coated vaccines
Tardigrades are tiny, tough eight-legged micro-animals that live in water. Without water, tardigrades dry out but have evolved the amazing ability to reanimate after more than 100 years. They do this by coating their molecular machinery, such as DNA and proteins, in a sugar. Inspired by this idea, several biotech companies adapted the process to protect live vaccines so that they no longer need to be refrigerated. In other words, they “shrink wrap” the vaccines in a glassy film of sugars to keep them effective for six months without refrigeration.
⚙️Read a book with an 8 in the total number of pages (tell us how many) – or – a book with the letters D-N-A in the title, in that order but not necessarily in the same word. – Sex and the Psychic Witch by Annette Blair (268 pp.)
7. Termite buildings
African termites have evolved some clever designs to keep their mounds at a nearly constant temperature, though, outside, it may vary widely. Termites construct their mounds with a cooling system using a series of vents along the top and sides. Wind blows hot air from underground chambers through the vents and out of the structure, and the termites can even control the airflow by opening or blocking tunnels. Architect Mick Pearce used a similar strategy when he designed the Eastgate centre, an office complex in Zimbabwe. Warm air vents out the row of chimneys at the top of the building, while cooler air is drawn up from underground. The building stays cool without air conditioning and so uses only a 10th of the energy of a conventional building of the same size.
⚙️Read a book with some sort of building on the cover (post the cover) – or – a book with an architect or designer character (tell us who). – Shelter Mountain by Robyn Carr
Earth and Skye 