This is bird note. In the 1990s, train engineers in Japan built incredibly fast trains, reaching speeds of nearly 170 miles per hour. But they had a problem.

When a train with a rounded bullet-shaped nose entered a tunnel,

the train would compress the air.

So then, when the train reached the end of the tunnel,

the air expanded so rapidly that it created a tunnel boom that bothered wildlife and people living near the tunnels.

But the chief engineer for the West Japan Railway Company was a birder.

And he'd seen Kingfishers dive into the water

with hardly a splash.

Kingfisher beaks are long and narrow

with a smooth transition between the base of the beak and the face.

This reduces the amount of drag when the Kingfisher enters the water.

So the engineer and his team imitated that beak

and created a shape that, when fitted on the front of the engine, would part the air rather than compress it.

This subtle change made the trains quieter, faster, and more energy efficient.

So trains in Japan now operate at beak performance.

Solving problems by modeling after nature is known as bio-mimicry.

Sometimes the best solution is right there in front of us, if only were willing to look for it.

For Bird Note, I'm Ariana Remmel. You're going to be.