Page 180 - Biomimetics: Technology Imitates Nature

Biomimetics: Technology Imitates Nature

Every niche of our surroundings—from the sky to the land to the
depths of the oceans—are full of countless “technological” marvels, each
of them a product of creation. Even the simplest industrial product has a
designer and place where it was manufactured. That being so, it would be
obviously irrational to claim that living things, possessing systems in-
comparably superior to huge factories with their state-of-the-art machin-
ery, could have arisen through chance, by themselves, as a result of nat-
ural conditions.
Every living thing possesses a superior, perfect design that emerged
flawless and complete from the very day of its creation, because God is
He Who creates flawlessly.
In this chapter we’ll examine some marvels of creation and compare
them to present-day technology. We should regard these examples as food
for thought, as God instructs us in the Qur'an, “An instruction and a re-
minder for every penitent human being.” (Qur’an, 50: 8)

Light Sensors in Plants

Some species of plants are acutely sensitive to changes in light inten-
sity. When night falls, they close up their petals. Some flowering plants
even do this in cloudy weather, in order—scientists believe—to protect

Some flowers, sensi-
tive to light, close
their petals when it
grows dark and
keep them closed
until dawn. Others
keep their flowers
facing the sun
throughout the day.

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