The Shinkansen Bullet Train

The Issue Reaches speeds of 200 mph through Japan Major problem with speed is aerodynamics Noise pollution Train created an atmospheric pressure wave through a narrow tunnel Resulted in a sonic boom at the exit Bullet shaped nose was the problem

Design Eiji Nakatsu found a solution while birdwatching The Kingfisher can dive from air to water when hunting with virtually no sound The birds beak is responsible for this

Design Cont. The nose of the train was redesigned to mimic the kingfisher’s beak Train became much quieter Design also caused it to be 10% faster Uses 15% less electricity

Owl Inspiration Pantograph (electricity connection) was redesigned using owl’s feather vortices as a reference Creating small vortices instead of one large one cut down on noise and air resistance