Page 87 - Biomimetics: Technology Imitates Nature

Harun Yahya

Try to tear a feather apart, and you’ll meet con-
siderable resistance, because filaments of the
feathers are closely bound together by small
hooks known as barbicels. A split feather even has
the power to repair itself. Just rubbing a feather a
few times “with the grain” lets these tiny hooks grip
themselves together once again.

Hollow bones, powerful chest muscles to move those bones, feathers
with properties that enable them to remain in the air, aerodynamic wings,
a metabolism that meets high energy needs… All these features, which
clearly show that birds are the product of design, also give them extraor-
dinary abilities in the air.
Birds are more advanced than planes in a great many other regards.

Birds such as the raven and dove can turn somersaults in the air, and
hummingbirds can remain suspended in flight. They can change their
minds in flight and suddenly alight on a branch. No airplane can perform
such maneuvers.

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