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Biomimicry

Saturday, 19 July 2008

Submarines of the future speed through the water with the help of wiggling fish fins. Aircraft ascend through the clouds with flapping wings. In the desert, a climber steadily approaches the summit of a cliff, open palms effortlessly sticking to rock with the use of gecko-inspired nanotechnology. Inventors and engineers have been looking to nature for inspiration ever since prehistoric times. Early humans learned hunting, shelter and survival techniques by observing animals as they interacted with their surroundings. While humans lacked the fierce claws and superior hunting instinct of bears, people could mimic their techniques. And as humans began to design ever-more complicated contraptions, they continued to look to nature's example. From Leonardo da Vinci's 15th-century sketches of flying machines to the Wright brothers' first successful prototype four centuries later, dreams of human flight centered on observing birds. The world is full of amazing biological innovations, each one the product of millions of years of evolution. When designing technologies, it only makes sense to study the ways in which nature has already mastered the challenges involved. Today, we know this as biomimetics or biomimicry -- the practice of imitating models in nature to create better forms, processes, systems and strategies. You encounter examples of biomimicry every day, perhaps without even realizing it. Velcro technology, for instance, was inspired by the way burred seed pouches cling to animal fur. Modern hypodermic needles take a few pointers from rattlesnake fangs. Nike has even ­applied the qualities of goat hoof traction to their running shoe designs. While the act of mimicking nature in human innovation has existed for ages, biomimicry came into its own as a prominent field of study and ethical stance in the late 20th century. American biologist Janine M. Benyus became a well-known leader of the movement in the late '90s with the publication of her book, "Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature." Since then, Benyus has gone on to found the Biomimicry Guild, an environmental consultation firm, and the Biomimicry Institute, a nonprofit advocacy group. The natural world, as a system, is considered sustainable, in that its systems reuse and recycle resources in an efficient, continuous manner. In comparison, most of our technology and way of life is unsustainable. This means the required resources are regularly depleted or permanently damaged. Nature as mentor stresses a new way of viewing our environment -- breaking away from the industrialized view of the world as a collection of resources available for plundering. Benyus insists that any serious biomimetic project should do more than imitate the design and efficiency of nature. She says designers should follow environmental ethics. For instance, a solar-powered vehicle patterned after the movement of a sand crab might be an amazing invention. However, she says the product loses all of its biomimetic credibility if its primary use is to cut down rainforests or serve as a weapons' platform. Nature's Nine Laws     * Nature runs on sunlight     * Nature uses only the energy it needs     * Energy fits form to function     * Energy recycles everything     * Nature rewards cooperation     * Nature banks on diversity     * Nature demands local expertise     * Nature curbs excess from within     * Nature taps the power of limits Examples of Biomimicry Biomimicry, as an innovating process, generally comes from one of two directions. Sometimes, the innovator sees a process in nature and connects it to an existing technology or problem. Other times, the innovator studies an existing design problem and turns to nature for help. This is where biomimicry serves as a bridge between biology and engineering. The first step of solving a problem through biomimicry is to translate what you need out of a design into biological terms. For instance, what if you wanted to design a fire extinguisher with a longer range? Where in nature have organisms evolved to deal with a similar problem? Bombardier beetles might not deal with quenching a flaming stovetop, but they have evolved to squirt a heated, explosive stream of venom at predators. Once discovered, the next challenge is to take the lesson from nature and apply it back to your design. In the case of the bombardier beetle, researchers studied the insect's use of a high-pressure "combustion chamber" in its abdomen. Designers have begun applying this discovery to existing spray technology. You can find biomimicry in a number of different fields. Whatever the design challenge, there's a good chance a species on Earth has tackled a similar problem already. All over the world, researchers are looking to nature for answers to their various design challenges. By studying how evolution overcomes challenges, biomimicry may one day help us solve problems ranging from soap scum to global sustainability issues. To learn more about the exciting world of biomimetics, explore the links on the next page. (Contributed by Dr. Dagmawi Tewolde)

 

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