It was a typical end to a weekday. Strolling across the backyard while talking with a friend over the phone I saw something out of ordinary. I knew something wasn't right. My phone conversation soon concluded, and I immediately went over to have a closer look at what I saw. Yes, what I thought I saw appeared to be true in front of my eyes. A small piece of stick, about 10cm long, was levitating freely in the air, about 10-15cm above ground. It danced rhythmically to the light breeze that was passing by. Curiosity took over my instincts, and lead me to unravel the mystery behind this 'levitating stick'.
Having a closer look in several angles, I saw one of the most interesting things I've ever come across. It was essentially a real-life application of Newton's 3rd Law of Physics; not by a human being though, but, by a small six-legged spider, a common 'garden orb-weaver', as it turned out to be.
Being asymmetrical and having an inconsistent pattern, the web hardly looked attractive. What impressed me was how it was engineered (if I put it in human's language). As I tried to illustrate it in the below image, it was positioned to cover a large area under the branches of a shrub that was hanging over the fence. Due to its extended structure, the web evidently required a subtle weight to counter-balance the forces of gravity, tension between strings and resistance caused by cross-wind. It was an ingenious solution to achieve this through a 'suspended' small piece of wood. The suspended weight provides greater flexibility in managing the cross-wind force without putting much stress on the most important thread; thereby, securing the structural integrity of the whole web. I'm certain that most of you would agree if I call it one of nature's wonders.
Whilst there are numerous listings nominating wonders under different themes, it was interesting to find that there are two main denominators: wonders of the 'world' and wonders of 'nature'. The former consisting of humans' greatest creations or achievements; the latter with everything else in this world that have managed to impress us (humans) most. One such sub-category attempts to identify the greatest architects of animal world, with the following often grabbing the top spots,
Beaver dam: Beavers are considered engineering keystone species that build shape changing dams depending on the speed of the water stream, including spillways to allow excess water to run off. Beavers only fall behind humans in terms of impact they cause on their habitat. The largest beaver dam recorded was whopping 850m in length, which can even be seen on google earth.
Cathedral termite mound: These termite species from Northern Australia build some of the most spectacular termite mounds, reminiscent of the elaborate architecture of medieval cathedrals. These nests extend above the ground reaching as high as 9m. The shapes of these mounds vary from species to species. Compass termites create tall, wedge-shaped mounds, consistently oriented on the north-south axis, thought to help with the thermal regulation of the nest.
Sociable weaver bird nest: Sociable weaver birds come together in colonies of as many as 500 individuals to build enormous nests at more than 2,000 pounds and 20 feet long by 13 feet wide by 7 feet thick. The nest is compartmentalised into individual chambers so that each bird has its own nest, similar to human's big-city apartments. Building the nest by weaving in twig after twig, they line the insides of the chambers with luxurious grass and feathers. The most critical feature of this colonisation is maintaining interior thermal comfort. Interior temperatures remain conducive for the birds in hot baking summers or freezing cold winters.
Paper wasp umbrella nest: Paper wasps are expert paper makers, capable of turning raw wood into sturdy paper homes. By mixing fibres from dead wood and plants and mixing it with saliva, paper wasps create a papery material which they create water-resistant nests out of. The nest itself is comprised of hexagonal cells in which the young will develop. The queen protects the brood cells by building a paper envelope, or cover, around them. The nest expands as the colony grows in number, with new generations of workers constructing new cells as needed.
Pufferfish sand castle: By using a single fin and swimming around for hours and hours, Pufferfish creates magnificent sand castles to attract mates. The more ridges the puffer fish includes in his structure, the more likely it is he will find a mate. This has a biological, practical use, as fertilised eggs are then deposited in the centre of the circle, and protected from oceanic currents by these ridges.
Beehive: Honeycombs made by worker bees are the ideal shape to economize labor and material, yet, create a structurally sound and strong structure. The shape/ structure is commonly used in many man-made applications.
Gopher tunnel: gophers depend on their underground tunnel systems for protection against predators for shelter, and store food. The soil that is excavated in the process of digging the underground tunnels is deposited at the entrance of the tunnel and becomes the gopher mound. Gophers create mound entrances with an earth plug to close the tunnel entrance for further protection. These tunnels consists of an extensive network linking with each other sometimes extending over 6ft deep below surface.
If building sophisticated dams is beavers’ gift of nature, and weaving such a fascinating web is a Garden-orb weaver’s, what is nature’s gift to humans? You can probably think of many areas in which humans out-class other species. Intelligence, resilience, ability to change own habitat, ability to invent tools/ machines for convenience etc. might be some obvious ones. But, is it possible to nominate one that stands out from the rest? One quality that humans can claim ‘of nature’, one that transcends ‘Natural’ and ‘Man-made’ environments. One that sets humans apart from other species, as well as uniting them with other species to form an inclusive species population in planet earth. Can you think of something?
I like to propose ‘empathy’ or ‘being able to empathize’ as human’s ultimate gift of nature. It is a natural feeling/ quality that occurs in humans effortlessly. Humans possess empathy in abundance that sets them apart from other species; however, empathy itself brings us closer together with others as inhabitants of planet earth.
Empathy, as you know is the ability to understand and share feelings of another. Undoubtedly, humans are not the only species capable of empathy, however, no other can feel it and act as human beings. It is how we can send our blessings or wish for the well being of our family, friends, relatives and for people who we know, and sometimes even for our enemies or people that we don’t know. Empathy enables humans to act for the safety of others even though it requires self-sacrifice or compromise. People stands for inclusiveness and reject all forms of discrimination because of empathy. It is the reason many fail to fathom the idea of killing an animal even though they are perfectly comfortable of eating the meat. Some willingly advocate and selflessly dedicate themselves for the protection of animal rights. Some even go to the extents of challenging fellow human beings for the same reason, whilst others make inventions or discover remedies. For some it is the reason to care for the environment, and convince others to do the same.
Do you agree? Or are there any others that qualify for human’s gift from nature? If this is nature’s gift to human beings what have we done so far with it? These are some questions I like to leave open for you to think about.
*Note: my original article on Linkedin (B. Kanishka Guluwita)