195 – Bullet train kingfisher nose – Eiji Nakatsu
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Bird watcher and engineer Eiji Nakatsu sped up and made Japan’s bullet trains quieter by studying the kingfisher’s beak.
Shawn and Mark stick their noses into how a business might use this story to encourage innovation through biomimicry.
Welcome back to a new Anecdotally Speaking episode.
For your story bank
Tags: biomimicry, nature, speed, engineering, discovery
This story starts at 01:09
Japanese bullet train (Shinkansen)
One hurtles past a station in Japan every 2 minutes!
Developed in the the 1960’s
275 kmph transport, but pressure wave, deceleration and consequent sonic boom at exit from tunnels
1989 – call for more speed and less noise
Bird watcher and engineer Eiji Nakatsu examined problems after 30 years unresolved
Studied kingfisher’s complex beak (silent entry into water from the air at high speed)
BT’s are now faster 320 kmph, 15% less energy, train nose is now 15 metres long – modelled on kingfisher’s beak
Marvellous lessons to be learned, and perspectives gained from nature
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