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Why hasn't nature invented the wheel? Or has it?

 

 

 

 

 

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  • Asked by geklof
  • on 2010-06-30 14:47:11
  • Member status
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Categories: Animals.

Tags: evolution.

 

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MikeAdams#367 says:

Yes and no. There are rotary devices in nature, such as the bacterial flagellum and the ATP generating complex in mitochondria, but they are not used as a wheel.

 

See

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocDIg7bzgbo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOoHKCMAUMc&feature=related

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Tags: evolution.

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posted on 2010-07-01 13:21:29 | Report abuse


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Jon-Richfield says:

Mike is right, as usual. Those microscopic rotary parts are more like bearings, or even like electric motors, than wheels. If that is OK by you, then they are the only known biological wheels in nature, human artefacts excluded.

However, there are many possible criteria for wheelness. If you will accept simple rolling as wheel activity (ie, not excluding structures without axles, or not load-bearing) then there are many examples, such as for example tumbleweeds that roll in the wind, dispersing their seeds (once they are dead of course, except for the seeds they bear).

The trouble is that axles and their bearings are not compatible with macroscopic biological mechanics. It would be very difficult to power a sizeable wheel and feed its tissue, particularly developing it functionally by natural selection.

However, the late M.C.Escher did design a characteristically charming fictional creature that certainly did stretch the idea of what one might think of has having some wheelness. It appears in several of his collected works. If I succeeded in uploading his "wentelteefje" (which sounds to me as though  it literally means "little rotating bitch", but apparently is a slang term for French toast) you can see it on line.

OK, it seems that I succeeded, but not very well. you can see it in greater detail at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curl-up

Cheers,

 

Jon

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posted on 2010-07-01 19:04:52 | Report abuse


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Barbapapa says:

A species called Humans invented "the wheel". Humanity is a part of nature. So, in fact, nature did invent the wheel. :)

Greetings.

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posted on 2010-07-02 13:00:44 | Report abuse

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Jon-Richfield says:

Certainly. that is why I explicitly said: "...the only known biological wheels in nature, human artefacts excluded."

The interesting part of the question was implicit: "What would it take for natural selection to create wheels, what would they be useful for, how would they work, how would their presence change our lives, and how would they work?"

Could you contribute? I hope so.

Jon

 

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posted on 2010-07-02 15:08:21 | Report abuse


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