Here’s a perfect example of analyzing a material’s properties, then exploiting them to solve a problem. In 1989 an Alabama man named Phil McCrory was watching footage of the Exxon Valdez oil spill on television. The sad footage showed an otter drenched in oil–and McCrory observed that the water immediately around the otter contained less oil, as it had been absorbed by the otter’s fur.
Core77, Jul 16th, 2018