Page 133 - Biomimetics: Technology Imitates Nature

Harun Yahya

As we have seen, the solutions to many problems in the technical
arena that leave us floundering already exist in nature. Our immune sys-
tem, of which every detail has been thought out and which functions per-
fectly, was ready to protect us before we were even born. It is Our Lord
Who watches and protects all. In one verse it is revealed:

My Lord is the Preserver of everything. (Qur’an, 11: 57)

From the Eye to the Camera: the Technology of Sight

The eyes of vertebrates resemble spheres with openings called pupils
through which light enters. Behind the pupils are lenses. Light passes first
through these lenses, then through the fluid that fills the eyeball, finally
striking the retina. In the retina there are some 100 million cells known as
rods and cones. The rod cells distinguish between light and dark, and the
cones detect colors. All these cells turn the light falling onto them into
electrical signals and send them to the brain via the optic nerve.
The eye regulates the intensity of the light entering it by means of the
iris, surrounding the pupil. The iris is able to expand and contract, thanks
to its tiny muscles. Similarly, the amount of light entering a camera is re-
stricted by a device known
as a diaphragm. In his book
Wild Technology, Phil Gates
describes how the camera
is a very simple copy of the
eye:
Cameras are primitive,
mechanical versions of
vertebrate eyes. They are
light-proof boxes equipped
with a lens to focus an im-

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