Page 106 - Biomimetics: Technology Imitates Nature

Biomimetics: Technology Imitates Nature

the surface of a sharks’ skin that produce vertical vortices or spirals of wa-
ter, keeping the water closer to the shark’s body and thus reducing drag.
This phenomenon is known as the Riblet Effect, and research into shark
skin is ongoing at NASA Langley Research Center.
Swimsuits made with new fibers and weaving techniques are pro-
duced to cling tightly to the swimmer’s body and reduce drag as much as
possible. Research has shown that such garments can reduce drag by 8%
over ordinary swimsuits. 70

The U-shaped channels on a shark's skin generate tiny vortexes, bringing the water clos-
er to the body and reducing drag. The large picture above shows a scanning electron mi-
croscope image of shark skin. (“Fizik, Teknoloji ve Olimpiyatlar” (Physics, Technology
and Olympics), Bilim ve Teknik, 77.) At the Sydney Olympics, all gold-medal-winning
swimmers like the Australian Ian Thorpe, wore swimsuits with the same properties as
shark skin. This important development led to a new sphere of business activity. Firms
such as Speedo, Nike and Adidas, well known bathing suit manufacturers, hired many
experts in the fields of biomechanics and hydrodynamics.

104