While both solar panels and plant leaves harvest energy from the sun, a team at Princeton University took biomimicry (仿生学) in solar panels a step further by adding folds to solar cells. The folds look like the natural wrinkles found in leaves, channeling more light into the cell. The researchers claimed in 2015 that the leaf-like cells generated 47 percent more electricity than those without folds.
Self-Cleaning Paint
The surface of the lotus (莲) plant’s leaves gets rid of dirt and water so well that this self-cleaning quality was named the “lotus effect” in 1977. In 1999, the German building company Sto released an outdoor paint called Lotusan. When dried, the paint’s surface is similar to that of the lotus leaf to shed water and dirt off immediately.
Bullet Trains
The Shinkansen Bullet Train in Japan is known for its aerodynamic shape that decreases the amount of sound the train makes while entering and exiting tunnels at speeds of 150 to 200 mph. The trains were modeled on a bird that hunts fish by diving into bodies of water. The shape of the train also allows it to travel 10 percent faster with about 15 percent less electricity.
Wetsuits
Unlike whales, beavers (河狸) don’t have layers of fat to keep them warm when they dive into icy water. Instead, their thick fur traps air among the individual hairs, keeping the mammals warm and dry. In 2016,a team of engineers at MIT sought to copy this quality in a wetsuit covered with rubber “hairs”, specifically designed for watersports athletes like surfers. Just like beavers, the athletes would be kept warm by hair trapped on the outside of the suit.
【小题1】Which item is a brainchild of a German company?| A．Solar Panels. | B．Self-Cleaning Paint. |
| C．Bullet Trains. | D．Wetsuits. |
| A．By shedding water immediately. | B．By thickening the layers of the suit. |
| C．By adding special hairs to trap heat. | D．By self-heating the outside of the suit. |
| A．They are nature -inspired. | B．They increase fuel efficiency. |
| C．They are environmentally-friendly. | D．They generate no economic returns. |
