November 16, 2009

Learning from the planet’s teachers...Consider Velcro, passive cooling and Speedo’s Fastskin FSII swimsuits. What do these items have in common? Give up? All were inspired by the natural world. In fact, so many recent inventions have occurred from observing how nature operates that a new term has been coined. Biomimicry is literally the science and art of emulating nature's best biological aspects to solve human problems.

For example, George de Mestral noted how burrs stuck tenaciously to his dog’s fur. Using a microscope, he observed that the tiny hooks on the end of the burr's spines caught anything with a loop - such as clothing, hair or animal fur. The result was his two-part Velcro fastener system.

And, African tower-building termites helped teach us about passive cooling. These insects construct their mounds to maintain a constant temperature by continuously opening and closing vents, allowing cooler air to be drawn in from open lower sections while hot air escapes through chimneys. An example of this stack ventilation system is employed by a wastewater treatment facility in Carlsbad, CA.

How to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels is another lesson we can learn from nature. As the Biomimicry Institute notes (http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/), “One of the best ways to reduce reliance on fossil fuels is to achieve more efficient use of the energy we do consume. Inspired by the evolved ability of shark's skin to reduce drag by manipulating the boundary layer flow as the fish swims, researchers are developing coatings for ship's hulls, submarines, aircraft fuselage, and even swimwear for humans. Based on the varying shape and texture of shark's skin over its body, Speedo's Fastskin FSII swimsuits made their appearance at the Beijing Olympics and may have helped US swimmer Michael Phelps to his record eight gold medals in that competition, and the rest of the team as well.”

And, perhaps, green plants can ultimately teach us about how to make clean fuel using sunlight to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, much like they use chlorophyll to convert sunlight, water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and oxygen. If we could master this process, we could make hydrogen fuel cells an efficient way to create and store energy applicable in home and industrial systems.

Everyday, scientists and inventors are exploring new ways to improve our world through biomimicry. Non-toxic adhesives inspired by geckos, resistance-free antibiotics inspired by red seaweed and improved wind turbine blades mimicking the flippers of humpback whales are just a few examples. If you pay attention, you can see biomimetically inspired products in nearly every corner of the marketplace, from medicine to transportation.

According to the advocates and practitioners studied by the Biomimicry Institute, the greatest potential impacts for this emerging field, however, is in changing the way we think about our man-made environment—not only in designing individual building products, but in conceiving of entire communities as biomimetic systems, not to mention businesses, government bodies and other "systems." Now that’s something to anticipate!

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photo courtesy of jonrawlinson , used under this Creative Commons license