Page 183 - Biomimetics: Technology Imitates Nature

Harun Yahya

bear’s skin. So great is its fur’s
capacity to transmit light that
despite the harsh polar cli-
mate, the animal’s skin
turns dark, as if sunburned.
The light, converted into
heat and absorbed, helps
warm the bear’s body.
Thanks to its fur’s unique
feature, the bear is able to keep
its body warm even under the
freezing polar conditions. 126
Bears’ fur is not their only feature that we can learn from. They can
spend up to six months a year in hibernation, doing so by putting their ex-
cretory systems on hold and without suffering toxic buildups in their
blood. Discovering how they do this will help in the fight against dia-
betes. 127

The polar bear isn’t the on-
ly living thing possessing
fiber optic technology.
Leaves of the Fenestraria
plant, which lives in the
deserts of South Africa,
are nearly entirely buried
in the sand. This protects
Fenestraria from water
loss and grazing animals.
The tip of every leaf is
transparent: Light enters
here and can travel down
the leaf. (Phil Gates, Wild
Technology, 67.)

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