Why Biomimicry?
Biomimicry is the science and art of emulating Nature's best biological ideas to solve human problems. Non-toxic adhesives inspired by geckos, energy efficient buildings inspired by termite mounds, and resistance-free antibiotics inspired by red seaweed are examples of biomimicry happening today -- and none too soon. Humans may have a long way to go towards living sustainably on this planet, but 10-30 million species with time-tested genius to help us get there. >Learn more about Biomimicry...
What's New?
Creative Child Magazine Adds to Growing List of Awards for Ask the Planet Children's Music CD
  
Creative Child Magazine added to the growing list of awards for Ask the Planet, an inspiring and fun children's album produced by The Biomimicry Institute. A panel of over 100 moms and educators awarded Ask the Planet the 2009 Creative Child Preferred Choice Award.
Ask the Planet was also selected as a winner of the 2009 Parents' Choice Award and the 2009 iParenting Media Best Product Award. To learn more about these awards, read the reviews, and/or buy a copy for your own, please visit asktheplanetcd.org.
Benyus wins Champion of the Earth Award from UNEP
Janine Benyus honored as a Champion of the Earth by the United Nations Environment Programme. Past winners of the Champion of the Earth award include Jigme Singye Wangchuck, fourth king of Bhutan, H.E. Mikhail Gorbachev of the Russian Federation, and Al Gore, former vice-president of the United States. >View the presentation here.
AskNature invites contributors
Imagine 3.8 billion years of design brilliance available for free, at the moment of creation, to any sustainability innovator in the world.
Imagine nature's most elegant ideas organized by design and engineering function, so you can enter "filter salt from water" and see how mangroves, penguins, and shorebirds desalinate without fossil fuels.Now imagine you can meet the people who have studied these organisms, and together you can create the next great bio-inspired solution.
That's the idea behind The Biomimicry Insititute's project AskNature, the online inspiration source for the biomimicry community. Learn more and join the community at AskNature.org
|
Upcoming Events
July 9-18, 2009
July 23rd-27th, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C.
August 30- September 6, 2009
Biomimicry in the News
Clams inspire new joining system
15-June-2009 - Queensland inventor Dean Cameron has developed a new joining system that replaces screws, bolts, glue, flanges and nails.
The
Joinlox system is likened to “industrial velcro” and can be used for
products ranging from food crates and pipes to cars, planes and bridges.
Cameron has been announced as a finalist in Innovic’s International Next Big Thing Award 2009. >Read the full article in Manufacturers' Monthly
New radio chip mimics human ear, could enable universal radio
3-June-2009 - MIT engineers have built a fast, ultra-broadband, low-power radio
chip, modeled on the human inner ear, that could enable wireless
devices capable of receiving cell phone, Internet, radio and television
signals.
Rahul Sarpeshkar, associate professor of electrical
engineering and computer science, and his graduate student, Soumyajit
Mandal, designed the chip to mimic the inner ear, or cochlea. The chip
is faster than any human-designed radio-frequency spectrum analyzer and
also operates at much lower power. >Read about the full article from MIT.
Biomimicry of heliotropic plants - more efficient solar panels
30-May-2009 – Many plants are heliotropic, gradually tilting towards the sun to optimize solar energy capture. Current sun-tracking solar panels involve the use of motors and electronic control systems, but we believe a biomimetic
heliotropic solar panel can be created with the use of alternative
materials and designs. Practically, the heliotropic solar panel could
be useful in developing areas, where motor-based sun-tracking panels
are not affordable. From an expressive standpoint, a solar panel that
tilts towards the sun (like a sunflower) can help the public see a
connection between the natural and the high tech. Solar cells that
track the angle of the sun can be 38 percent more efficient at
generating power than those that are mounted in a fixed position. >Read the full article atRobAid.com
|
