Velcro, the billion-dollar fastener used by NASA, has an unremarkable origin story. In 1941, Swiss engineer Georges de Mestral went out on a walk and observed that there were burrs caught on his dog’s hair and his clothes. The average person probably would have disregarded this matter. De Mestral thought differently, however. He decided to explore further.
When he examined the burrs more closely with a microscope, he discovered that they had hooks attached to them. These hooks were able to attach themselves to loops present in fabrics and animals’ fur. This discovery formed the foundation of one of the most famous instances of biomimicry – imitating what nature has already created.
