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Biomimicry Design- Kangaroos Keeping Cool

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Biomimicry Design- Kangaroos Keeping Cool

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By: Madeline Boyd

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How do Kangaroos survive their environment? What can we learn from them?

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How do Kangaroos survive their environment? What can we learn from them?

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Kangaroos are incredible animals with adaptations and lifestyles that help them survive their often harsh environments.

Kangaroos hop to get to food and water. Hopping can cover great distances faster and surprisingly uses less energy than running would. Kangaroos can do this because they have large tendons in their hind legs. These tendons allow their legs to work as "springs". Humans could benefit from this by creating some form of device to assist them in jumping. This technology has already been used in some forms of prosthetic legs for runners.

Kangaroos also have the ability to postpone the growth of their own embryo until external conditions become more ideal for a pregnancy. Humans cannot naturally do this, but there are ways now coming about that are similar! For example, human embryos are being frozen and stored for possible future pregnancies when the timing is better for the person.

Kangaroos have pouches which allow them to carry their young and keep them safe. The baby kangaroos, also known as joeys, drink milk in the pouch as well. Humans could learn from this by the way that they carry their babies! Often, babies are carried by humans on the hip or in a stroller. Why not just get a pouch that can be worn and close to you at all times for hands-free baby care!

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Staying cool! No matter how much I sweat when its hot, I still cannot seem to get cool enough. Also, a lot of people cannot actually sweat or do not produce much, so they struggle with cooling down in the heat. There is nothing like the feeling of water touching your skin on a hot day!

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The thing that I find most interesting about how kangaroos survive is the way that they stay cool while living in their desert environment. Kangaroos LICK themselves to stay cool! Kangaroos do not sweat like humans or other animals, so they need some way to lower their internal body temperature. They lick their arms, wrists, and chests until they are wet with saliva. They also lick their hands and then rub the saliva on their body parts. The saliva then slowly evaporates which cools the blood that is circulating in the superficial blood vessels that are very close to the surface of the skin in these areas. The saliva's moisture also allows the skin's capillaries to open up more which allows more body heat to escape.

For my design, I will be creating a solution modeled after the kangaroo's adaptation that will assist in keeping humans cool! The invention will be a pair of thin gloves that a human can wear with some sort of sponge on the palms. The sponge will be soaked in water to absorb as much as possible and then the gloves can be worn while out in the heat. The humans can rub their wrists, arms, thighs, neck, and other areas with blood vessels close to the skin to saturate with water and be able to cool down. The gloves can always be refilled with water because of the sponge's re-usability, as long as there is water present.

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These are regular gloves with a large, round sponge attached to the front. The sponge will be used to collect and store water and then be used to rub on the skin.

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The changes made to the original prototype now include opened finger tips, and smaller, more widespread chunks of sponge. The finger-tip holes allow more air flow and allows the wearer to have full use of their finger tips for touch screens/technology. The more widespread sponges allow more room for the hand to be used as normal.

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The final changes made to this product include more, smaller sponges, sponges molded to fit the shape of the hand, and vents/slits in the back of the gloves to provide more air flow.