THE LANTERN OF THE PHOTURIS FIREFLY

THE lantern, or light organ, of a particular Photuris firefly is covered with jagged scales that dramatically enhance the brightness of the light that the insect produces. *

JAGGED SCALES

Consider: Researchers have found that tiny scales on the lantern surface of some fireflies form a corrugated pattern, somewhat like overlapping shingles or tiles. The scales tilt up at one end by just 3 micrometers—less than one twentieth the thickness of a human hair. Yet this tiny tilt lets the lantern shine almost 50 percent more brightly than it would if the scales formed an even surface!

Could that concept improve the efficiency of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which are used in electronic devices? To find out, scientists coated LEDs with a corrugated surface similar to that of the firefly’s lantern. The result? The LEDs emitted up to 55 percent more light! Physicist Annick Bay says: “The most important aspect of this work is that it shows how much we can learn by carefully observing nature.”

What do you think? Did the lantern of those Photuris fireflies come about by evolution? Or was it designed?

*FOOTNOTE:
   Scientists have not studied all species of this firefly.

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THE HOUSE SPIDERS' STICKY SECRET

AWAKE JANUARY 2014

THE American house spider (Parasteatoda tepidariorum) produces a web with adhesion that can be strong enough to stick to a wall or weak enough to detach from the ground and thus act as a spring-loaded trap for walking prey. How does the spider produce both strong and weak anchors for its web with a single type of glue?

 

Scaffolding silk

Consider: The spider anchors its web to a wall, a ceiling, or a similar surface by weaving highly adhesive patches of silk called scaffolding discs, which are strong enough to withstand the impact of flying prey. Researchers at the University of Akron, Ohio, U.S.A., have discovered that, on the other hand, the patches of silk that are attached to the ground—called gumfoot discs—have an entirely different architecture, or construction. With far fewer attachment points than scaffolding discs, gumfoot discs allow the web to detach with ease and yank off the ground any prey that has walked into it.

 

Gumfoot silk

According to a news release from the University of Akron, the researchers who uncovered this wonder of nature “are already working toward developing a synthetic adhesive that mimics this intelligent design strategy employed by the house spider.” Scientists hope to create an adhesive that can be used both for common bandages and for treating bone fractures.

What do you think? Did the house spider’s ability to produce weak and strong anchors with the same glue come about by evolution? Or was it designed?

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THE STORAGE CAPACITY OF DNA

 

 

AWAKE! DECEMBER 2013

WAS IT DESIGNED?


COMPUTER users generate enormous amounts of digital data that has to be stored for access as needed. Scientists are hoping to revolutionize current methods for digital storage by imitating a far superior data-storage system found in nature—DNA.

Consider: DNA, found in living cells, holds billions of pieces of biological information. “We can extract it from bones of woolly mammoths . . . and make sense of it,” says Nick Goldman of the European Bioinformatics Institute. “It’s also incredibly small, dense and does not need any power for storage, so shipping and keeping it is easy.” Could DNA store man-made data? Researchers say yes.

Scientists have synthesized DNA with encoded text, images, and audio files, much as digital media stores data. The researchers were later able to decode the stored information with 100 percent accuracy. Scientists believe that in time, using this method, 0.04 ounce (1 g) of artificial DNA could store the data of some 3,000,000 CDs and that all this information could be preserved for hundreds if not thousands of years. Potentially, this system could store the whole world’s digital archive. DNA has thus been dubbed “the ultimate hard drive.”

What do you think? Could the storage capacity of DNA have come about by evolution? Or was it designed?

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