The way busy worker ants defend their nests is being studied by scientists – to help busy human workers defend their emails.
In our hectic world of 24-hour living and instant information, it would be easy to think nature has nothing left to teach us.
But top scientists know we still have plenty to learn from animals and plants.
An exciting branch of science called biomimicry uses nature to answer problems of modern life.
Ants, for example, are experts at keeping predators at bay because they are organised and share their workload across the colony.
It is a principle that may work against unwanted email junk messages, which make up about 90% of emails and spread viruses.
Ant colonies work like the human immune system, in which each cell is designed to fight off one or two different bugs, rather than being weighed down with every tool needed to battle all infections.
Biologist Deborah Gordon, at Stanford University in California, told the Sunday People: “Ants often make mistakes, and yet over evolutionary time it works out well enough that a colony can keep out all the bad guys.
“Because the chances are, when any particular ant of another colony comes along there will be an ant that recognises it.”
She said the same logic could be applied online. Emails are currently screened against blocklists, which stop messages from known spammers getting through.
But the culprits are often skilled at staying one step ahead, and Dr Gordon says a smarter, more flexible system could be developed by studying ants.
She said: “Spam filtering has evolved into a war with hackers. Once they figure out how the spam is being identified it is pretty easy to change things around so as not to be identified.
"What we are suggesting is a system where each part just reacts to the particular spam that it encounters.”
Ants are so amazing that even in zero gravity, when 600 were sent to the International Space Station, they stuck to their tasks and stayed organised as a colony.
Teams of robots using such tactics could revolutionise search projects in dangerous environments, added Dr Gordon.
And it’s not just ants. Biomimicry has already changed all our lives and will continue to do so.
The skin of sharks has inspired swimming costumes which cut drag and helped top performers such as Michael Phelps to smash records.
And the shock-absorbing skull of the woodpecker, which drills trees up to 12,000 times a day with its beak, led a designer to create a super-strong cardboard cycle helmet.
A beetle’s ability to trap moisture from the air spurred scientists to try and grow trees in a desert.
Meanwhile a fish is helping improve natural light in offices, pine cones have inspired a revolutionary clothes material and burdock plants’ hooks led to the development of Velcro.
Birds’ hollow bones may improve jet plane design, while the reflective quality of butterfly wings are lengthening the life of batteries in electronic books.
Richard MacCowan, director and co-founder of Biomimicry UK, said: “It’s not just about sustainability.
“It’s about what you can
achieve that’s more beneficial, better for the environment, has better social impact.
“It’s about tangible results, that’s why we’re starting to see improvement.”
Shark Skin
A sharkskin-inspired swimsuit helped American Michael Phelps win eight gold medals at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
The costumes have overlapping scales to cut down on drag and more than 130 world records were broken using them.
In 2010 they were banned amid fears a technological arms race was taking hold, but the idea is now used outside sport, including in medicine.
Richard MacCowan, of Biomimicry UK, said: “One company has looked at sharkskin-inspired film on hospital surfaces. They found sharks don’t develop as much bacteria on them.”
Namib Desert beetle
The tiny Namib desert beetle has inspired engineers to try to grow forests in the Sahara. It leans into the wind and its wax-like shell traps moisture that condenses and can be drunk.
Mr MacCowan: “They’re using that to try to regrow the forest in two concept sites at the moment – closed loop systems where you use the moisture in the air to grow plants and generate drinkable water in places you don’t normally get it.”
The Sahara Forest Project, currently running trials in Jordan and Qatar, can purify seawater pumped in to feed vast greenhouses full of trees.
Spookfish
For more than 80 years, Percy Shaw’s invention of cats’ eyes have been keeping drivers around the world safe.
The inventor from Halifax was inspired by the extreme reflective nature of cats’ eyes and the principle is being used again.
The deep-ocean dwelling spookfish also has specialised reflectors due to the lack of light.
Each eye is split in two, so it can look up and down.
Devices using the same reflective principles are now being designed to channel natural light into office buildings. These “sun tunnels”, left, sit on roofs and cut down on energy usage.
Woodpecker
Hammering your head into a tree sounds extremely painful, but woodpeckers manage it up to 12,000 times a day.
Flexible cartilage between their beaks and skulls acts as a shock absorber, while bone structure helps to protect their brains against the pounding.
After suffering a concussion in a cycling accident, industrial designer Anirudha Surabhi came up with the idea of copying the woodpecker’s anatomy for his Kranium helmet.
Surprisingly, the helmet is made of cardboard but it can withstand three times the force of traditional polystyrene products.
Pine cones
Not all of the technological marvels from the natural world are based on animals – the pine cone has inspired a particularly novel fashion breakthrough.
Because it closes up in wet weather, scientists wondered whether the principles behind it could be applied to clothing.
Using the same idea a University of Bath and London College of Fashion project developed clothing that would open up in response to moisture.
When the wearer starts sweating the fabric allows cool air through its porous surface, but in dry conditions it closes up to keep you warm.
Burdock plants
One of the simpler non-animal discoveries in biomimicry is found in every household up and down the country: Velcro.
Swiss engineer George de Mestral began developing his invention in 1941, after returning from a hunting trip in the Alps with his dog.
He found burrs from burdock plants had attached themselves to the animal, and under a microscope discovered they had tiny hooks on their ends.
After developing the technology he was given a patent in 1955, and perhaps the most famous example of successful biomimicry was born.
Bird bones
Birds have inspired technological advances, not least through their strong, hollow bones.
The construction industry is using their design to develop hollow building materials that cut down on waste, without losing any of the strength needed to keep buildings upright.
Aeroplane manufacturer Airbus has adapted structures found in seabirds, making planes more efficient as their wings can change shape depending on wind conditions.
It is currently examining how owls fly so quietly to catch their prey, in the hope noise emissions can be cut.
Butterflies
On an even smaller scale to hollow bird bones, aircraft maker Airbus says tiny capillaries in butterflies could hold the key to adjusting materials mid-flight.
But chemicals on their wings have also led to an innovation much closer to home, after scientists discovered how shimmering colours were created through layers of overlapping crystalline structures that bent the light reflecting off them.
Full-colour electronic book readers similar to the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX have been developed to copy this process, extending battery lives compared with older models.