AskNature: How can we design better packaging?

The following is adapted from the Biomimicry Institute's Ask Nature Collections of strategies and products, inspired by nature, to address the 21st century's greatest design challenges. Find thefull collections here.

每天，邮政工具通过邮件提供数百万封装，装满产品的卡车在全球范围内运输，并创造了数十亿美元的封装产品，买入和销售。

Packaging is a ubiquitous, necessary现代消费文化的方面。它使我们的产品安全，清洁和完整。随着时间的推移，大部分包装都会导致浪费和污染。是否有更好的方式包装我们每天使用的产品和服务？

If we look to nature, there are signs that the answer is yes. This collection aims to explore some of the varied ways in which nature designs and develops life-friendly packaging.

How does nature build breathable containers? What clues from nature might point us toward designing protective packaging that serves an additional use after the item is unwrapped? Much like humans, the rest of nature is continuously on the move and transporting goods. How can nature’s ideas help us design solutions to our most difficult packaging challenges?

1. The golden scale snail's tri-layer shell

At the bottom of the Indian Ocean are large hydrothermal vents that spew hot water and minerals. They also provide an ecosystem for a variety of bizarre species adapted for living in harsh conditions.

一种这样的物种是金色的蜗牛（Crysomallon squamiferum，有时称为鳞片状脚），从而源于通风口的营养素。粘附在通风结构中，蜗牛容易受到捕食者，如螃蟹和毒蜗牛，可​​以穿刺或压碎鳞片蜗牛。

To protect itself, the snail uses a hard, armor-like shell with a tri-layered composition. Each layer has distinct chemical and physical properties that enable them to play different roles in managing forces from predatory attacks.

内层就像棉花糖蛋壳复合物后面的砖墙。

外层是由热通风孔喷出的Greigite（硫化铁）颗粒加固的薄有机壳。大多数软体动物从内部构建它们的贝壳，除了使用热通风口的硫化铁沉积物之外，金色鳞片蜗牛还可以。例如，当侵入螃蟹爪确实开始破裂外层时，其特定的微观结构将损坏定位为硫化铁颗粒周围的“牺牲微裂纹”。也就是说，许多小，可管理的裂缝形式，围绕撞击部位，而不是一个可能严重损坏整个壳的大裂缝。

中间层是厚，致密的有机材料层，其本质上是巨大的，这意味着它容易变形。该属性使中间层充当减震器，减轻螃蟹掌握的压力并防止有毒蜗牛的粉碎吹。它可以与蛋壳下方的密集棉花糖进行比较。外层和中间层抑制了大多数，如果不是全部，则震动。

Any remaining mechanical energy reaches the calcified inner layer. It is the last layer of defense and if any forces are strong enough to affect it, they could permanently damage the snail. The inner layer is like a brick wall behind the marshmallow-egg shell complex.

Bionspired products and application ideas

应用程序想法：Develop novel structural materials. Protective armor. Helmets. Vehicles.

Industrial sector(s) interested in this strategy:Construction; materials science; engineering; military.

2.白色dogwhelk蜗牛的蛋壳

多细胞海洋生物面临恒定的微生物和其他小型生物寻求粘附的结构。无论它们是真菌，藻类，生物膜形成病原体还是其他生命形态，它们都导致生物污染在较大的生物体表面上会导致严重并发症。

The white dogwhelk (Dicathais Orbita.), a type of sea snail, produces eggs with remarkable anti-fouling adaptations. In early stages of development, the exterior of the egg capsule is covered in uniform ridges. Unlike irregular nano-textures observed on the surfaces of eggs from other marine organisms, ridges that are regularly spaced sufficiently close together are believed to minimize potential contact points for fouling organisms, making it harder for them to attach and settle.

This series of anti-fouling steps keeps biofilms and parasitic microbes from harming the egg.

Over time, however, bacteria will attach and take root on the surface of the egg capsules. To combat this, later stage eggs shed their exterior crust completely to reveal a fresh layer underneath.

在这种脱落外层之后，脂合爱的液滴从鸡蛋表面上的毛孔挤出，似乎施加某种防腐效果。这一系列的防污染步骤使生物膜和寄生微生物造成伤害鸡蛋，直到它足以孵化。

Bionspired products and application ideas

应用程序想法：白色dogwhelk产生na的能力no-textured surfaces that prevent microbial adhesion could inspire a new generation of non-toxic and long-lived antimicrobial surface treatments.

工业部门对此策略感兴趣: Medicine; materials; construction; ship building.

3. Protective scales of the striped bass

Many bony fish, such as the striped bass, receive significant protection from predators through their scales. Being only about 0.2 to 0.3 mm thick, these scales are surprisingly tough. They can stop about three Newtons (comparatively, a Newton is the weight of an apple falling from a tree) of force from penetrating them.

这是通过双层结构实现的。每个刻度由两个同等厚的层组成：外骨层，用于坚固的外部保护的高度矿化，以及较软化的内胶原层，矿化较少。这两层一起工作，以防止鳞片下方的软体组织被刺穿。

鳞片的分层使它们比目前使用的人聚合物更强烈。

当捕食者在其嘴里捕获条纹的低音并开始咬合时，骨粘层是第一层防御层。能够承受大约两个牛顿的力量，骨磁层承受了大部分咬合动力。

从捕食者咬得多的强度，刻度裂缝的一半纵向和宽度，形成四个“襟翼”。沿翼片之间的裂缝的力分布有助于最小化对底层软胶原层的损伤。当咬合继续通过刻度时，向下推开翼片，下胶原层与上骨层分离。

While the flaps are being pushed down and continue to contact the collagen layer, they help redistribute the bite forces over their larger area. This results in less damage to the soft collagen layer than if the forces were concentrated at the puncture site. The flaps are so helpful that they increase the overall impact resistance of the scales by one Newton.

The collagen layer also helps resist the bite through the orientation of its fibers. Lying at right angles to each other, the fibers of the collagen layer stretch under pressure. This is similar to how a woven hammock can hold a person, but a bunch of ropes all lying in the same direction cannot. This stops the tooth of the predator from immediately puncturing through. The detachment of the collagen layer from the bony layer also helps.

The scales cover most of the striped bass' body and partially overlap.与人造保护盖相比，这种双层刻度系统令人惊讶地艰难。与聚苯乙烯和聚碳酸酯相比（用于CD案例和安全性护目镜），单一尺度提供更多的保护。鳞片的分层使它们比目前使用的人聚合物更强烈。

Bionspired products and application ideas

应用程序想法：坚固柔软的包装。防护服和齿轮轻量级，运动限制减少。温室封面或者会承受天气的面板。

工业部门对此策略感兴趣: Manufacturing; clothing; agriculture.