This document appears to be a presentation on various topics related to nature and its designs that are relevant for physicists, chemists and engineers. It contains sections on nature and symmetry, mathematics, chemistry, physics, engineering, derived natural products and their applications. Some key points include discussions of symmetry in plants, animals and structures found in nature. It also highlights efficient shapes and structures found in nature and how they inspire engineering designs. Examples of natural materials and structures are provided like wood as a fiber-reinforced composite, cellulose nanocrystals, polymer chain structures and more.

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Nature’s Designs- for Physicists,
Chemists and Engineers
Dr. K. Padmanabhan
School of Mechanical and Building Sciences
VIT-University, Vellore-632014.
Email: padmanabhan.k@vit.ac.in

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Mythology

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Bottom up and
Top down Philosophy

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Contents
• Nature and Symmetry
• Nature and Mathematics
• Nature and Chemistry
• Nature and Physics
• Nature, Engineering and Technology
• Nature Derived Products
• Nature and Applications
• Nature and VIT- Some Insights
• Summary and Remarks

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Design Philosophy
Pyramidal Substantiation
Man
Apes
Mammals
Sea organisms

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Ventry Beachcombings 11 – Dendritic drainage patterns in the sand with Devonian red
sandstone pebbles at Ventry Bay on the south coast of the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland,
along the Wild Atlantic Way – Jessica’s Nature pages

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The parallel lines of thin strata look like sloping stacks of
tombstones in some places on the beach at Ferriters Cove- Ireland.

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The Female Domination in Insects
A male M Sociabilis
attacks its mate
A nephila female eating
A male during sex
A female chinese praying
Mantis eating a male
Female and Male Mosquitoes
The female honey bee
enslaves male honeybees
The widow black spider
Eats male before or after

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On Survival, extinctions and the feared !
The indian hornbill can drink only
Rain Water The Bengal tiger
The Lion Tailed Macauque Wooly mammoth- 10,000 BC

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Lion Tailed Macaque-The Sad Story
The lion-tailed macaque ranks among the rarest and most threatened primates.
Their range has become increasingly isolated and fragmented by the spread of
agriculture and tea, coffee, teak and cinchona, construction of water reservoirs for
irrigation and power generation, and human settlements to support such activities.
They do not live, feed or travel through plantations. Destruction of their habitat and
their avoidance of human proximity have led to the drastic decrease of their
population.

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Information is where
design begins !
Design is defined
as the complete
information
required to
produce a
product
- Anonymous

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Nature’s Fingerprints
The zebra is black with white stripes !
The polar bear is mostly left handed !
The kaola bear’s finger prints are just like
a human finger print !

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Nature and Symmetry

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Nanoclays
• Silicates layers separated by an interlayer
or gallery.
• Silicates layers are ~ 1 nm thick, 300 nm
to microns laterally.
• Polymers as interlayers.
• Tailor structural, optical properties.

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Nanoclays
Structure of phyllosilicates
( Source: Dubois, Alexandre 2000)

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Wood: A natural, fiber-reinforced
composite
Cell walls: layered cellulose microfibrils (linear chains of glucose residues,
degree of polymerization  5000 – 10000,  40-50 % w/w of dry wood
depending on species), bound to matrix of hemicellulose and lignin

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Cellulose Nanocrystals (II)
Cellulose microfibrils are secreted by certain non-photosynthetic
bacteria (e.g. Acetobacter xylinum), and from the mantle of sea-
squirts (“tunicates”) (e.g. Ciona intestinalis)
These highly pure forms are free from lignin/hemicelluloses;
fermentation of glucose is a possible microbial route to large-scale
cellulose production.
Adult sea-squirts
Nanocrystalline cellulose whiskers, from acid
hydrolysis of bacterial cellulose. Image courtesy of
Profs. W.T. Winter and M. Roman, Dept. of Chemistry,
SUNY-ESF, and Dept. of Wood Science and Forest
Products at Virginia Tech.

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Cellulose Nanocrystals (I)
Cellulose (linear chains of glucose residues), bound to matrix of lignin
and hemicellulose, comprises  40-50 % w/w of dry wood
Individual fibers have major dimensions ~ 1-3 mm, consisting of spirally
wound layers of microfibrils bound to lignin-hemicellulose matrix;
microfibrils contain crystalline domains of parallel cellulose chains;
individual crystalline domains ~ 5-20 nm in diameter, ~ 1-2 m in length
Nanocrystalline domains separable from amorphous regions by
controlled acid hydrolysis (amorphous regions degrade more rapidly)
Crystalline domain elastic modulus (longitudinal) ~ 150 GPa: compare
martensitic steel ~ 200 GPa, carbon nanotubes ~ 103 GPa
Suggests possible role for cellulose nanocrystals as a renewable, bio-
based, low-density, reinforcing filler for polymer-based nanocomposites

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NaCl Structure

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CsCl Structure

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HCP Close Packing
Examples: Mg, Cd, Zn,Be

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Left and right crystals !

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The Sunflower Radial Symmetry
Sunflowers boast radial symmetry and an interesting type of numerical
symmetry known as the Fibonacci sequence. The Fibonacci sequence is 1, 2, 3,
5, 8, 13, 21, 24, 55, 89, 144, and so on (each number is determined by adding
the two preceding numbers together).

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Bi Lateral and Glide Plane Symmetry

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Flowers
Hypogynous Perigynous Epigynous

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Flowers
Polysepalous
Gamosepalous
United Sepals

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Flowers
• Polypetalous ( four fold, five fold, many fold)
• Gamopetalous ( united)
• Dentists use terms like peridontal, epi, ortho, prostho and
endo in dentistry
P
Polypetalous 4 fold Polypetalous , multiple. Gamopetalous, united

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Botanist Jamili Nais measuring
Rafflesia flower, Rafflesia keithii, Mt
Kinabalu National Park, Sabah
World’s biggest flower has
five fold symmetry
Ho-Mg-Zn Quasicrystal
Five fold symmetry
Ordered but not periodic

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Star Fish and Sea Urchin
Star fish has n=5, meaning a five fold symmetry and sea urchin
Shown here has n= 9. Both have rotational symmetry

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The Nautilus Spiral Symmetry
In addition to plants, some animals, like the nautilus, exhibit Fibonacci
numbers. For instance, the shell of a nautilus is grown in a “Fibonacci spiral.”
The spiral occurs because of the shell’s attempt to maintain the same
proportional shape as it grows outward. Ibn n the case of the nautilus, this
growth pattern allows it to maintain the same shape throughout its whole life
(unlike humans, whose bodies change proportion as they age).

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Faunal Bi lateral Symmetry

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The Peacock’s Bilateral Symmetry
The feathered male peacock has perfect symmetry !

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A push pull symmetry is shown here of a goat

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Near Perfect Mirror Image of Milky Way
As we’ve seen, symmetry and mathematical patterns exist almost everywhere
we look—but are these laws of nature limited to our planet alone? Apparently
not. Having recently discovered a new section on the edges of the Milky Way
Galaxy, astronomers now believe that the galaxy is a near-perfect mirror image
of itself.

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Nature and Mathematics

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The Human Brain
Neo cortex
Visual Maths, FEM, SVG, Mathematics of Graphics, Lyrical Music, Quantitative
Pattern Recognition, Modular Assembly are all Demanding on both the sides !

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Division and multiplication
• We learn division from Mitosis and
meiosis, cell division and duplication!

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Order of Equations in Nature
• The first from Classical Physics is the fundamental law of energy
radiation known as Wien's law.It is based on wavelengths to the fifth
power. This means energy as photons is based on wavelengths to
the fifth power!
Atomic and nuclear emitted energy has a proven fifth power basis;
just as the 5SPACE formula has.
• After Einstein failed in his attempt to unify Gravity with
Electromagnetism,
Kaluza & Klein [K&K] proved that if space-time had a fifth dimension
in which Charge was the angular momentum in that fifth dimension.
Gravity and Electromagnetism could indeed be unified with General
Relativity
• More equations in a separate page ( To read out )

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Exponential Behaviour
Like in sound attenuation with
unattenuated initial value Ao,
attenuation coefficient (k) and
distance or depth (t)

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Visual Mathematics
Cartesian equation:
y4 - x4 + a y2 + b x2 = 0
Polar equation (Special case):
r = √[(25 - 24tan2(θ))/(1 - tan2(θ))]
Polar equation:
r2 = a2θ
Parametric Cartesian equation:
x = a sin(nt + c), y = b sin(t)

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Visual Mathematics
Cartesian equation:
y(x2 + a2) = a3
or parametrically:
x = at, y = a/(1 + t2)
Polar equation:
r = a sin(kθ) Cartesian equation:
y = x cot(πx/2a)
Polar equation:
r = 2aθ/(πsin(θ))
Lived during 1719-1799 in
Bolgna, before Karl Fredrich
Gauss who Lived during 1777-1855.

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Visual Mathematics
Polar equation:
r = a/θ
Polar equation:
rp = ap cos(pθ)
A point-based
representation of the
mathematical surface:

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Visual Mathematics
ParametricPlot3D= [{r
Cos[[Theta]], r Sin[[Theta]], r^2},
{r, 0, 1}, {[Theta], 0, 2 [Pi]}]
A Parametric 3D Design

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Finite Element Analysis of Human
Facial Expressions
Think of FEM as the best non destructive test method that you can ever conceive
And refine the precision and bias in your approach with out wasting Nature’s resources.
It is possible in the near future !

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Nature and Chemistry

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What after Benzene ?
Cyclooctatetraene
More Chemistry in Parts !

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Chemical Groups and Bond Energy

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Polymer Chain Structure
Intermolecular and Super
molecular Structures have
Influence on structure,
processing and properties

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Stereoisomerism

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Types of Copolymers

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Nature and Physics

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Mechanically efficient shapes

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Microstructural Efficiency

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Gandikota- Andhra- Kadappah
Stratified Sandwich Structres

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Indian and Western Sandwiches

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The Sea Foams and Sponges
Sea Sponge

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Poisson’s Ratio and Foams
Shear strain at maximum load vs foam density

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Rigid Thermoset Unfilled Foam
PUF 500 PUF 125
PUF 250 PUF 64

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The Bumblebee Paradox
Bumblebee
The "bumble-bee paradox" has been solved: extra lift comes when
flexible insect wings slice through the air at a high angle of attack,
creating a large swirling vortex at their leading edge. Otherwise,
according to aerodynamics, the bumblebee can’t fly as it doesn’t
generate enough lift with its small wings

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Wright Brothers and the Dragon Fly
It took ~100 to 350 million years of evolution to power the insect flight !
The dragon fly

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Indian ornithoptors of dragonflies

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Catastrophe Theory
• Thom referred to events like a heart beat, a
buckling of beam, a stock market crash, a riot or
a tornado as catastrophes. He proved that all
catastrophic events In our four dimensional
world are combinations of seven elementary
catastrophes. In higher dimensions the number
quickly approaches infinity. The cusp, elliptical
umbulicus (belly button) are all examples.
• Topological attractors !

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CATASTROPHE THEORY
Catastrophe theory is a special branch of
dynamical systems theory. Continuous
phenomena are easily dealt with. A change in
one quantity produces a predictable change in
another. Mathematical functions that represent
continuous events can be graphed curves. The
governing equations for such phenomena and
extensive mathematical methods of solving
them have been developed.

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Rene Thom 1923-2002

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On the other hand, “non linear” equations generally
have no exact solutions , and the erratic events
associated with them are harder to describe or predict.
The new science of chaos, is opening up new ways to
deal with such events.

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Buckling Types and Topology
To topologically formulate all the types of
buckling through master/parent equations and
scaling that yield all the other formulations in
order to analyze the buckling and post
buckling behaviour of the most common and
important material structures. To construct
buckling mechanism maps. To validate
topology through finite element methods and
prove the correspondence in the pattern
recognition of buckling load-deflection plots.

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TOPOLOGICAL GEOMETRIES
 Consider the equation, y = K x (P-x) (1)
Where, y is the load, x is the deflection and K and P are
constants.
Where,
K = 0.5,1,1.5,2,2.5,3,3.5,4,4.5,5 and
P = 0.5,1,1.5,2,2.5,3,3.5,4,4.5,5
x increases from 0.1 in the increments of 0.05.

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Choosing K=1.5 and P=1 makes the equation y = 1.5x
(1-x), which can be iterated with an arbitrary x value,
calculating the resulting y value, substituting that y value
back as x , and calculating another y value, and so on. This
method known as the attractor method. Thus two plots are
possible, (x,y) and (y,x) as y is obtained from x, substituted
back as x. When these new formulations are iterated and
plotted in some variable domains, they provide all the
necessary information on the various types of buckling
behaviour of material systems. They replicate the various
buckling load deflection patterns obtained from material
structures. This is the attractor method !

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Nature Derived Materials

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Sustainable Development
• Preventing rural exodus
• Using local labour forces
• Environmentally sound
• PROFITABLE for the growers as well as
for the industry- a myth shattered !
• Biogenics versus Non-biogenics
• ( i.e. Production from life processes. Like
cotton or silk )
• Green Product / Green Process
• Ecomenia (ecological + profitable)

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Base Bio vs. Base Fossil
72

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Triangulo de
Campbell
NF Must be Sustainable

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Why bio-based polymers
and natural fibres?
Environmental Advantages?
• Renewable raw material base
• Biodegradable
• Reduced fossil fuel and resource consumption
• Lower Greenhouse gas emissions
• Lower overall emissions and environmental impacts
• Energy recovery from incineration
Economic advantages? (Short v/s Long run)
• Rising petroleum prices, technological progress and
scale economies

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Drivers of environmental
superiority of NFRP
• Natural fiber production v/s glass fiber
production emissions
• Higher fiber % (substitution of base polymer and
GF with lower emission NF)
• Credits for carbon sequestration ( capture and
storage of CO2 so that it is not let in to the
atmosphere )
• Higher N2O & eutrophication ( response of
ecosystem due to the addition of natural or
artificial substances ) due to cultivation

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Other Benefits
• Carbon sequestration in hemp ~ 0.79kg
CO2/kg fiber
• Energy recovery from fiber burning ~10
MJ/kg
• RENEWABLE/LOCAL Material base

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GROWTH FACTORS
• Comparative weight reduction part for part
• Cheap filler / structural reinforcement
• Suitability for one-pass processing
• Relatively good impact performance
• Occupational health handling advantages
• Re-use of moulding offcuts
• Lack of toxic emissions
• Abundant supply
• “Green” credentials - sustainable resource with
superior environmental balance
• Suitability for recycling processes
• COST REDUCTION

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Advantages
• Lighter
– 30% less than current materials
• Biodegradable
• Low energy to manufacture
• Excellent energy absorption
• Replace current plastics and even steels
• Non-Toxic

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Uses
• Car bodies
– Less weight = greater fuel economy
• Toys
• Luggage
• Building material
• Aerospace
• Medicine
• Agriculture
• Bicycles
• Consumer products

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Bio-derived
Thermoplastics and
Thermosets

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Bio polyethylene
• Biopolyethylene (also known as renewable polyethylene) is
polyethylene made out of ethanol, which becomes ethylene after a
dehydration process. It can be made from various feedstocks
including sugar cane, sugar beet, and wheat grain.
• One of the main environmental benefits of this project will be the
sequestration of roughly 2 kg of CO2 per kg of polyethylene
produced, which comes from the CO2 absorbed by the sugar cane
while growing, minus the CO2 emitted through the production
process. Over 1.5 billion pounds of CO2 will be annually removed
from the atmosphere.
• Dow and Toyota are making it !

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Bio PLA, PHB and Polyester
• Bioplastics are plastics derived from renewable
biomass sources, such as vegetable fats and oils, corn
starch, pea starch or microbiota.
• Polylactic acid (PLA) is a transparent plastic produced
from corn or dextrose.
• The biopolymer poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB)
is a polyester produced by certain bacteria
processing glucose, corn starch or wastewater .
Similar to PP.
• Polyester is also produced from potato
starch.

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Genetically modifed bioplastics
• Genetically modified bioplastics
• Genetic modification (GM) is also a challenge for the
bioplastics industry. None of the currently available
bioplastics – which can be considered first generation
products – require the use of GM crops, although GM
corn is the standard feedstock.
• Looking further ahead, some of the second generation
bioplastics manufacturing technologies under
development employ the "plant factory" model, using
genetically modified crops or genetically modified
bacteria to optimise efficiency.

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Epoxies from soybean oil
• Biobased Epoxy Resins from Epoxidized Soybean Oil
(ESBO) Cured with Maleic Anhydride (MA).
• Epoxidized soybean oil (ESBO), obtained from a
renewable resource was used in the production of
thermoset resins. Samples of the ESBO were initially
treated with maleic anhydride, equal mixture of catalyst
(1,3-butanediol anhydrous and benzyldimethylamine)
and the mixture was cured for 5 h at different
temperatures. After the curing process, the ratio between
the ESBO and the anhydride (ratio EEW:AEW) was
evaluated in terms of the different mechanical properties

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Plastic from Badam Oil
• Plastics can be
synthesized from
badam oil !
• Lot of research is
going on in this sector
!
• Indians might take the
lead !

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Castor oil as plasticizer
• Castor oil derivatives are used as plasticizers in
rigid plastics.
• Environmental fingerprinting and CO2 emissions
can be reduced by replacing petroleum derived
plasticizers with castor oil plasticizers.
• BASF – a german company is working on this !
• Used in toys, impact resistant plastics, hose
pipes, medical aids.

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Cashew Nut Shell Oil as
Composite Matrix Material
• Cashew nut shell oil
can be polymerized
using acids, toluene
as inhibitor and
formaldehyde at 120
celsius.
• A tough and strong
maroon coloured
matrix !

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Composition of CNSL

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CNSL Matrix Material

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Waste Plastic/ Bio-plastic to Fuel
When you have enough of
bioplastic waste you can
pyrolyse it and make bio
plastic derived petrol, diesel
kerosene and wax !!!

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Natural and
Bio-derived Fibres

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Chemical Composition of Some
Vegetable Fibres

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Main physical properties of cellulose based fibres
compared with conventional synthetic fibres

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Natural Fibre Cross Section
Confocal Laser Scanning
Microscope (CLSM) images
Non-uniform cross sections
provide interesting interfacial
properties and other
mechanical

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Jute Fibre
• Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fibre that can be spun into
coarse, strong threads. It is produced from plants in the genus
Corchorus. "Jute" is the name of the plant or fibre that is used to
make burlap, Hessian or gunny cloth.
• Jute is one of the most affordable natural fibres and is second
only to cotton in amount produced and variety of uses of
vegetable fibres. Jute fibers are composed primarily of the plant
materials cellulose and lignin. It falls into the bast fiber category
(fibre collected from bast or skin of the plant) along with kenaf,
industrial hemp, flax (linen), ramie, etc. The industrial term for
jute fiber is raw jute. The fibers are off-white to brown, and 1–4
metres (3–13 feet) long. Jute is also called "the golden fiber" for
its color and high cash value.
• Bangaladesh and India are the largest producers of Jute.
• Continuous use of Jute however causes Byssniosis.

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Cotton Fibre
• In 5000 BC indus valley people wore cotton
fabric
• Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fibre that grows in a
boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of
cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fibre
is almost pure cellulose. Under natural
conditions, the cotton bolls will tend to increase
the dispersion of the seeds.
• China and India are the largest producers of
cotton
• Cotton exposure causes byssniosis a lung
decease

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Silk fibres
• Silk is a natural protein fibre, some forms of which
can be woven into textiles. The protein fibre of silk is
composed mainly of fibroin and produced by certain
insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known type
of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of
the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in
captivity (sericulture). The shimmering appearance of
silk is due to the triangular prism-like structure of the
silk fibre, which allows silk cloth to refract incoming
light at different angles, thus producing different
colors.
• Some varieties of Thai and Chinese silks have
ballistic resistance properties.

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Silk fibre properties

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Spider Silk
Spider silk is sometimes stronger than silkworm silk.
It may be 1.4 GPa in tensile strength compared to
500
MPa for the mulberry silkworm produced silk. It is a
myth that natural fibres are weak !

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Spider Silk

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Biodegradability

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Life cycle of ‘GREEN’
biodegradable plastic material

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Nature and Applications

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Indus Valley and Natural
Composites
Mud Composite Figurines and Sun Baked Mud Composite
Bricks Were Produced by The Indus Valley People from
5000 BC
It was not the Egyptians first- A myth !

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Indus Valley and Antimony

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Kajal or Mai- the home made
nanocarbon from castor oil !
Nanocarbon structures are present in the soot !

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Cow Dung Composites

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Bio plastic Tableware, Cutlery
and Utensils

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Totora – Huros at Lake Titicaca

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Silk Sarees

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Footwear and Carpets

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A Bamboo Bicycle

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The Rig Veda
There were impregnations, There
were powers,
There was energy below, There was
impulse above
-Rig Veda, Existence, 10.129.5
Krishi Mandala ( Agricultural Applications)

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Agriculture and Medicine
• Bio derived fertilizers and organic farming
• Natural composites from organic farming
• Medicine capsule skin made from starch, cellulose and
other edible products
• Bio derived peptides, proteins and drugs
• Bio derived polymers as insecticides and mosquito
repellents
• Bio derived polymers as air fresheners, perfumes and
cosmetics
• Nano bio polymers and composites

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Nature’s Medicines
-Ayurveda
• Ayurvedic Supplement
• Digestive
• Hair Care
• Immunity
• Joint Pain
• Sexual Health
• Skin Care
• Stress/Memory
• Teas & Tonics
• Women Care
Skin Tea
Shushrutha, Charaka, Jivaka, Kashyapa, Danvantri, Vaghbahatta ( Medicine)
Nagarjuna ( Chemist )… Started from about 1000 BC with Shushrutha.

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Self Reinforced Natural
Composites
• The same material as the fibre and the
pulp matrix
• The fibre matrix-interface is interesting
• Weight and cost savings
• Interesting Properties !
• Bio derived self reinforced polyethylene
from sugar cane

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Positive Hybrid Effect
• Synergy in Properties
• Cellulosic Interfaces
• Silane and Other Interfaces
• Shear to Tensile Strength Ratios
• Fracture Behaviour
• Crack tip blunting, Fracture energy
• Underlying Mechanisms

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The future ?
• Extracting fibre without damage
• Effective coupling agents
– cellulose chemistry instead of silanes
• Environmental durability
– barriers to prevent moisture absorption
– sterilize fibres to prevent biodeterioration
– to improve fatigue life
• Natural composites for durable use and short term use
 Chemical process and cost considerations
• Aircraft interiors applications !

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Nature and Engineering

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Diamond isn’t the hardest !
Dihexagonal di pyramidal diamond
Called lonsdalite from meteorites with
An indentation hardness pressure of
~ 150 GPa
A tetrahedral cubic diamond has a
Hardness of only ~100 GPa indentation
pressure.

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Hollow Bamboo and Hollow Fibres
The hollow fibres if implemented in concept and marketed will be more torsion
Strong, having a double interface with the matrix in a composite system . They
Save weight as they are not fully solid and provide exotic properties. !

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Interfacial Properties
The Interfacial Shear Strength (IFSS) of the scalp/human hair interface is about
50-60 MPa. Some bone/tendon, bone/tissue interfaces have higher IFSS than the
individual tensile strengths. IFSS= about 150 MPa for a σ T = 50 or 80 MPa. In C/E
It is about 1200/100 ( tensile/shear) and PP/PP SRC it is about100/25 (Tens/Shear).

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The tooth as a functionally graded
material
The masticatory heavy chewing stress will be around 193 MPa.
A composite restorative must with stand this with an FOS and with
constant hygrothermal attack. The enamel to dentin shear strength is
about 50-70 MPa.

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Environmental Behaviour of
Polymers/ Plastics
• Polymers are known for environmental attacks that
reduce their function.
• Mechanical properties degrade over time !
• Moisture plays havoc at elevated temperatures, in the
presence of voids, defects and in low Tg plastics . So do
UV, IR, acid and alkali environments
• Diffusion and osmotic pressure are the driving
mechanisms for the attack
• Evaluation methods and surface preservation
• Important in marine, biomedical, aeronautical, electronic
and automobile applications

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Microsystems and
Nanosystems Packaging

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Caterpillars and ICs
The SOP, SSOP and other dual in line packages are all carterpillar designs !

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Microsystems and Nanosystems
Packaging Roadmap
Many of the encapsulated ICs
These days come with bio resins
And their composites !

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Biomedical Composites
s
75X106 cyles of heart beat
78 x 106 cycles of heart beat
over 25 years

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The Double Helix
The helix cutter , twist and the helical
ratio drill are all manifestations of the DNA !
Fig. 2. (a) twist drill; (b) ratio drill.

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The Pineapple
The pinapple cutter has edges that run both clockwise
and counterclockwise and is used to reduce the delaminations
In layered materials, as any cutter can be rotated in only one
direction . The counterclockwise cutting edge trails and
reduces the delaminations that are otherwise caused by
Single edge end milling cutters and drills.

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Box fish designs
The ostracion cubicus, also known as the boxfish
has a rather large body, but is able to swim very fast
because of its low co-efficient of drag and rigid
exoskeleton. The Mercedes designers began modelling
a new vehicle after the boxfish that proved to be one of the automobiles with lowest co-
efficient of drag ever tested.

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Biomimetics
The Enthiran Robot The Ornithopter

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Biomimetics-The Mouse
It is not that easy to design an ergonomic mouse ! Most off them hurt
By the time you finish modelling a differential gear !

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Nature Inspired Buildings
The leaf building of Brazil Snail stairs in Barcelona

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Nature Inspired Buildings
Sydney Opera House Fish Building, India

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Nature Inspired Temples
A Nayakkar Style Temple !
The Auroville Dome !

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The Cooling, CFD of Red , Pink
and Sandstones
Rajasthan Palaces Lakshmi Nivas Palace, Bikaner

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The Ratnagiri University- A VIT Book
Started along with Nalanda in 5th Century AD in Odisha

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Natural Cooling at Ratnagiri
The thermal distribution analysis of Ratnagiri using a CFD software

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CO2 Research and VIT
* Development of carbon dioxide based diesel
fuels and using in diesel engine to get better
combustion efficiency and thus reduce the carbon
dioxide and other green house gas emission.
* Develop a liquid carbon dioxide based fuel which
can be used in IC engine for generating power and
also as fuel in transport sector.
* Develop a carbon dioxide based rotary engine
and hybridize with diesel engine for driving
vehicles.
* Improve the photo synthesis with soil less
cultivation and carbon dioxide injection thus
reduces the carbon dioxide level in the
atmosphere. And also achieve higher productivity
per unit area.
* Development of a continuous algae reactor with
controlled injection of carbon dioxide and improve
the yield of algae by reducing the growth period by
around 50%.
* Development of processes for direct conversion
of carbon dioxide to petroleum products.

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Failures and Multiple Causes-VIT
• In nature, most of the real environment failures are due
to multiple causes.
• As enough standard procedures are available for
failures due to a single cause, the obvious move is to
develop the understanding as well as standard
procedures for failures due to multiple causes.
• A understanding of these failures leads to a better
fracture control that aids superior designs with advanced
composite materials
• Fatigue-vibration interactions, Electro-hygrothermal-
mechanical failures of ICs, Bending-shear-buckling
failures !

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Nature’s Confucius
Do not have done unto yourself what you do not want
Done to others !

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Flatulence- Nature’s Curse !
CLIMATE CHANGE: FLATULENT CONTRIBUTIONS!
Padmanabhan Krishnan
School of Mechanical and Building Sciences,
VIT-University, Vellore, India
Here the author scrutinizes an environmental event that brings out a significant but so far ignored
contributions to climate change, viz. that of flatulence by members of fauna. A conservative estimate is made
here on the fraction of contribution by flatulence to the total green house gas emissions. A query is raised as to
why global organizations like the WRI and EPA have ignored this fact. Some basic remedies have also been
suggested.
Environmental Research JournalISSN: 1935-3049
Volume 7, Number 5© 2014 Nova Science Publishers, Inc

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Natural And Nuclear Mushrooms
The poisonous amanita muscaria The more venomous fat man

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The Jewish Mushroom !
• 5-6th of August, 1945. In Hiroshima and Nagasaki there were a few
lakh instant deaths. A few more lakhs died later.
• Less than 3000 Americans were killed in Pearl harbour when the
Japanese attacked on Dec 6-8 , 1941 !
• America immediately retaliated with Col. Doolittle’s counteroffensive !
• More than 11 million people, most of them jews were killed in Germany
by Hitler.
• Robert Oppenheimer, Albert Einstin and a few other nuclear scientists
were german jews!
• Why was n’t nuclear energy used for reactors first ?
• Why wasn’t the bomb dropped in Germany first?
• Racism and `east is east, west is west’ attitude is the answer !
• Oscar Wilde who said this earlier, was a confirmed gay !
• What do you think about this cowardice?

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3 Billion Year Old Mystery !

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The Earth 3 billion Yrs Back
The origin of DNA occurred when the earth was hotter, rotated faster
And couldn’t hold anything heavier ( Assumptions) due to poor gravity !

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The Amoeba Has No Symmetry
Though angstrom and nanometer symmetry exists in crystals and DNA
Amoeba is an exception ! It has defied symmetry since evolution before
~ 3 billion years back !

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Paramecium and Eukaryotic
Flagellum

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Why be into research on nature ?

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The Most cited Papers are Natural !
“The lowry paper,” as it is known, stands head-and-shoulders above all others. This 1951
article by Oliver H. Lowry Nira J. Rosenbrough, A. Lewis Farr, and R.J. Randall,
published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, 193,265-75, reported an improved
procedure for measuring proteins. It still ranks as the King of the Classics, with over
180,000 citations by the end of 1987. It continues to receive 10,000 citations per year.
Why is this the most cited paper? Lowry observed: “It filled a need in the beginning—and
a lot of people measure proteins. Once it became established... other people may have
thought it was the method to use, or at least checked the procedure they were using
against it.” At about the same time—in 1976— Marion M. Bradford published “A rapid and
sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the
principle of protein dye-binding” in Analytical Biochemistry, 72, 248-54. Many now cite the
Bradford paper instead of the lowry paper—more and more all the time. With about
20,000 citations by the end of last year, the Bradford paper is now the fourth most cited
paper in the SCI. The runner-up to Lowry, written by Ulrich Karl Laemmli, was published
in Nature, 227, 680-5. “Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of
bacteriophage T4” accumulated nearly 50,000 citations between its publication in 1970
and the end of 1987. This procedure has not been superseded, which explains its steady
rise in the chart. The third most cited article, with just over 20,000 citations is “Reliability of
molecular weight determinations by dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis,”
by K. Weber and M. Osborn, published in 1969 in the Journal of Biological Chemistry,
244, 4406-12. The record of citations to this article shows a more typical pattern for well-
known and highly cited

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Bibliography
• Tarasov. L, This amazing Symmetrical world, Mir
Publishers, Moscow, 1986.
• Rene Thom, Catastrophe Theory, Google.
• Crutzen PJ, Aselmann I and Seiler W, Tellus,
1986, 38B, 271-284.
• Wilkinson, D. M., Nisbet, E. G. and Ruxton,
G.D., Current Biology, 2012, 22(9), R292-293.
• http://www.wri.org/publication/content/8468
• http://www.wri.org/chart/world-greenhouse-gas-
emissions-2005
• http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/i0680e/i0680e.pdf

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Bibliography
• Micheal F Ashby, Materials Selection in Mechanical Design,Third
Edition, Elsevier UK, (2005).
• Dr. Lalitha Ramakrishna, Ancient Indian Greats, Ramakrishna Math,
2012.
• R. Kataria, S. Ghosh, G. Ramachandran and K. Issar, Ratnagiri
University-an Architectural Reconstruction,Sri Aurabindo Ashram
Press, 2014.
• Martin Gilbert, Second World War, Fontana/Collins, 1989.
• Charles D Miller, Vern E Heeren, E John Hornsby Jr., Mathematical
Ideas, Sixth Edition, Harper Collins, 1990.
• Books by Carl Sagan
• Wikipedia web pages.
• Google search that lasted days.

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PART II of the FDP ?
• Nature and archeology !
• Nature and archeo-metallurgy !
• Nature and pattern recognition !
• Nature and music !
• Nature the artist !
• Nature and optics, electricity, mind.
• Nature, evolution, history and future !
• Challenging problems and unsolved mysteries !

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Technology Tower

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Graphic FE Design of Lord Shiva

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Rig Veda on Infinity
pûrnamadah pûrnamidam pûrnât
pûrnamudacyate pûrnâsya
pûrnamadaya pûrnamevâvasishyate
From infinity is born infinity.
When infinity is taken out of infinity,
only infinity is left over.