What is reverse engineering? Reverse engineering is fairly simple (in theory): It’s the process of closely examining the construction of a complete product to build another one exactly like it, starting with its basic components and parts. Engineers may identify the bevel gears (conical-shaped gears with straight, parallel teeth), spark plugs, and pinions that are ultimately combined to make an engine and a car, for example. Similarly, through the process of reverse engineering, manufacturers can pick out the splined shafts and hubs in a finished bicycle to learn how to make new bicycles from scratch.
Historically, the process has been used recreate anything from clocks, cars, and bicycles to computers and electronic equipment. Now, top scientists and reverse engineering companies are asking a surprising question: Is it possible to reverse engineer the environment?
Why Are Scientists Asking This Question Now?
Believe it or not, it all started centuries ago in 1673 when Explorer Louis Joliet proposed the construction of a canal in the Chicago area. Although the idea did not come to fruition until quite some time later, it was not used for navigation, as Joliet initially suggested. Instead, Americans constructed the Chicago canal as a sewer system; for years, Chicago residents dumped waste into the canal, which flushed sewage away from the city and reversed the direction of the Chicago River. And it was a big deal. “In 1955, the American Society of Civil Engineers named Chicago’s sanitation system to its list of seven modern wonders,” a Feb. 6 New York Times article reports.
Temporary Conveniences Can Have Lasting Consequences
While the construction of the canal solved a sewage crises hundreds of years ago, today it continues to have devastating effects on the environment. Reversing the direction of the river wreaked havoc on ecosystems — killing or significantly diminishing fish populations previously depended upon by fisheries and the American economy.
And that brings us back to the reverse engineering companies’ question: Can it be undone? We can examine the bevel gears and others small parts of painting presses, trains, and power plants to build new ones from the ground-up. Is it possible for engineers and scientists to use these same principles to reverse the Chicago River back to its original state? Is it too late? Only time will tell.