4 ms·

This made me realize that there are no lifeforms getting energy by mechanical means (harness wind, waves, tides). That seems like an oversight on evolution's pa

• EamonnMR 7y ago
  Birds can, for example, gain altitude by flying around in a thermal updraft.
• briga 7y ago
  There are, however, plants and animals that harness mechanical energy as a survival strategy, which might amount to the same thing. For example when dandelion seeds get spread in the wind, or fish swimming along ocean currents. I think a good rule of thumb, given the extreme diversity of the biological world, is that if a specific biological mechanism hasn't evolved in 4 billion years of evolution there's probably a good reason for it.
• dcolkitt 7y ago
  Biological evolution does a pretty poor job of mechanical adaptations in general. For example in the entire history of life on Earth there's no instance of a true wheel being developed. I'd say evolution is really good at chemical engineering, decent at aerospace engineering, okay-isn at electrical/computer engineering, and incompetent at mechanical engineering.
  • quasimodem 7y ago
    If you believe that humans are too just products of evolution, then I'd say evolution gets credit for aerospace engineering too.