Journal
SCIENCE ADVANCES
Volume 5, Issue 3, Pages -Publisher
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aat8520
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Funding
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche [ANR-06-BYOS-0008]
- Imperial College London through Arthur Holmes Centenary Research Grant 2018
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) [EP/M006883/1]
- Royal Society
- Wolfson Foundation through a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit award [WM130048]
- NSF [RNMS11-07444]
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) [ANR-06-BYOS-0008] Funding Source: Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR)
- EPSRC [EP/M006883/1] Funding Source: UKRI
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Termite nests have been widely studied as effective examples for ventilation and thermoregulation. However, the mechanisms by which these properties are controlled by the microstructure of the outer walls remain unclear. Here, we combine multiscale X-ray imaging with three-dimensional flow field simulations to investigate the impact of the architectural design of nest walls on CO2 exchange, heat transport and water drainage. We show that termites build outer walls that contain both small and percolating large pores at the microscale. The network of larger microscale pores enhances permeability by one to two orders of magnitude compared to the smaller pores alone, and it increases CO2 diffusivity up to eight times. In addition, the pore network offers enhanced thermal insulation and allows quick drainage of rainwater, thereby restoring the ventilation and providing structural stability to the wet nest.
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