Page 55 - Biomimetics: Technology Imitates Nature

Harun Yahya

pests from the crop. Among the crops, they growed species that repel
stem-borers and attract parasitoids. In such fields, they found, the num-
ber of plants infested with stem-borers dropped by more than 80%.
Further applications of this incomparable solution observed in plants will
make for still further advances. 43
Wild tobacco plants in Utah are subject to attack by caterpillars of the
moth Manduca quinquemaculata, the eggs of which are a favorite food of
the bug Geocoris pallens. Thanks to volatile chemicals that the tobacco
plant releases, the G. pallens is attracted, and number of M. quinquemacu-
lata caterpillars is reduced. 44

Fiber Optic Design in the Ocean Depths

Rossella racovitzae, a species of marine sponge, possesses spicules
guiding light as optic fibers do, which of course is employed in the very
latest technology. The optical fibers can instantly transport vast amounts
of information encoded as light pulses across tremendous distances.
Transmitting laser light down a fiber-optic cable makes possible commu-
nications unimaginably greater than with cables made of ordinary mate-
rials. In fact, a strand no thicker than a hair, containing 100 optical fibers,
can transmit 40,000 different sound channels.
This species of sponge which lives in the cold, dark depths of
Antarctic seas is easily able to collect the light it requires for photosyn-
thesis thanks to its thorn-shaped protrusions of optical fibers, and is a
source of light for its surroundings. This enables both the sponge itself
and other living things that benefit from its ability to collect and transmit
light to survive. Single-celled algae attach themselves to the sponge and
obtain from it the light they need to survive.
Fiber optics is one of the most advanced technologies of recent years.
Japanese engineers use this technology to transmit solar rays to those

53