Sunday, March 14, 2010

Biomimicry - Nature show us the way

Those who are inspired by a model other than Nature, a mistress above all masters, are laboring in vain. – Leonardo Da Vinci

Biomimicry -> Bios(Life) + Mimesis (To Imitate)

Biomimicry- Examination of the nature , its models, its process to emulate or take inspiration to solve the human problems sustainably.

Nature is an amazing laboratory which has the best engineers in the world. No I am not taking about the engineers for the MIT’s , IIT’s but the  plants , animals and microbes .  They are the consummate engineers.

Biomimicry concept is not new to the world. The concept  of  Biomimicry as an approach of innovation has been around for a while.  It has already solved many of the problems that humans were grappling with.

The coolest example of the Biomimicry is Velcro.  Invented in 1941 by Swiss engineer George de Mestral, who took the idea from the burrs that stuck tenaciously to his dog’s hair. Under the microscope he noted the tiny hooks on the end of the burr’s spines that caught anything with a loop – such as clothing, hair or animal fur.

Hook-and-loop fasteners, consists of two layers: a “hook” side, which is a piece of fabric covered with tiny hooks, and a “loop” side, which is covered with even smaller and “hairier” loops. When the two sides are pressed together, the hooks catch in the loops and hold the pieces together. When the layers are separated, the strips make a characteristic “ripping” sound.

Solar cells copied from leaves, passive cooling, self – healing plastics are some of the interesting examples of Biomimicry.

15 coolest examples of Biomimicry

The Biomimicry Guild is the only innovation company in the world to use a deep knowledge of biological adaptations to help designers, engineers, architects, and business leaders solve design and engineering challenges sustainably.

Innovation Inspired by Nature. Janine Benyus (1997)



[Via http://kunalsingla.wordpress.com]

No comments:

Post a Comment