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The Dog Walk That Accidentally Invented Velcro | Smartest Year Ever (July 28, 2025)
What do burrs, a dog walk, and a Swiss engineer have in common?This episode kicks off Accidental Genius Week—a celebration of ideas that were never supposed to happen, but changed the world anyway.
In today’s story, Gordy explores how a curious hiker came home from the Alps covered in annoying seed pods…and accidentally sparked one of the most widely used inventions of the 20th century. It’s a tale of biomimicry, NASA, and why one man’s refusal to ignore a clump of burrs led to a multi-billion-dollar fastening system we all take for granted.
From outerwear to outer space, this sticky little discovery became a household name—and an unexpected symbol of how nature inspires innovation.
Sources:
Petroski, H. (1994). The Evolution of Useful Things. Vintage.
Velcro Companies. (n.d.). The Invention of Velcro® Brand Fasteners. https://www.velcro.com/blog/2017/09/history-of-velcro/
Vincent, J. F. V., et al. (2006). Biomimetics: its practice and theory. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 3(9), 471–482. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2006.0127
NASA History Division. (n.d.). Spinoff Technologies: Velcro.
U.S. Patent No. 2,717,437. (1955). Separable fastening device. https://patents.google.com/patent/US2717437A/en
#Velcro #Biomimicry #inventions #dailyfacts #didyouknow #strangeinventions #burrs #designhistory Music thanks to Zapsplat.
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By GordyWhat do burrs, a dog walk, and a Swiss engineer have in common?This episode kicks off Accidental Genius Week—a celebration of ideas that were never supposed to happen, but changed the world anyway.
In today’s story, Gordy explores how a curious hiker came home from the Alps covered in annoying seed pods…and accidentally sparked one of the most widely used inventions of the 20th century. It’s a tale of biomimicry, NASA, and why one man’s refusal to ignore a clump of burrs led to a multi-billion-dollar fastening system we all take for granted.
From outerwear to outer space, this sticky little discovery became a household name—and an unexpected symbol of how nature inspires innovation.
Sources:
Petroski, H. (1994). The Evolution of Useful Things. Vintage.
Velcro Companies. (n.d.). The Invention of Velcro® Brand Fasteners. https://www.velcro.com/blog/2017/09/history-of-velcro/
Vincent, J. F. V., et al. (2006). Biomimetics: its practice and theory. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 3(9), 471–482. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2006.0127
NASA History Division. (n.d.). Spinoff Technologies: Velcro.
U.S. Patent No. 2,717,437. (1955). Separable fastening device. https://patents.google.com/patent/US2717437A/en
#Velcro #Biomimicry #inventions #dailyfacts #didyouknow #strangeinventions #burrs #designhistory Music thanks to Zapsplat.