Technology meets Nature: Biomimicryby Elliot Connor | 12-02-2020 04:09 |
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Nature has had all of 4 billion years to craft the very best strategies it can for survival; we as humans a mere 4,000. So when looking for inspiration, we really ought not turn introspective, but rather search out beyond our current realm of perception into that held by the natural world. These evolutionary hacks, or blueprints for success, are often seen time and again across many varied species as proof of their effectiveness. There's no such thing as plagiarism in survival of the fittest. So quite simply, all that remains for us as humans to do is to redraw these basic designs for our own commodities and systems. A relatively new idea, believe it or not- and it is known as biomimicry. Thanks to this emerging art, we have or will soon have: phone screens inspired by seashells, bullet-trains inspired by kingfishers, antifreeze inspired by cod, painless surgical needles inspired by mosquitoes, wetsuits inspired by otters, wind-turbines inspired by whales, space rovers inspired by desert spiders, gene-editing technologies inspired by bacteria and many, many more brilliant technologies. If we are to adapt and survive in our changing world, we need to embrace and learn from other lifeforms. Biomimicry is a step in the right direction. It remains only to be seen what will follow. |
