Support : eNewsletters : Eye on Innovation : Issue 5, November 2012

Solutions inspired by Nature

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

What do burrs and Velcro, lotus wings and paint, and whale flippers and wind turbine blades have in common? The answer: the emerging field of biomimetics, a concept that has inspired scientists, architects, marketers and others to innovate... and often to protect the environment at the same time.

Biomimicry is not a new concept. The Wright brothers watched vultures to learn the nuances of flight and flew their plane for the first time in 1903. But additional opportunities abound to discover how nature has already solved problems and translate these successes into agriculture, medicine, materials science, energy, computing and commerce.

In this issue of Eye on Innovation you will see how “doing it nature's way” has the potential to change the way we grow food, harness energy, store information, make materials and conduct business. Examples from ProQuest Dialog science and technology databases show how researchers are using the genius of nature as models for innovation. Dialog patent databases, (coming to ProQuest Dialog in 2013), provide data for the growth in numbers of patents related to biomimicry.

Biomimicry primer
What is biomimicry? According to Janine Benyus, President of the Biomimicry Institute, biomimicry or biomimetics is a discipline that studies nature's best ideas and then imitates these designs and processes to solve human problems, creating better forms, systems and strategies. This provides the means to achieve both environmental and economic goals.

Researchers using biomimicry follow two different approaches. In some cases, they see an interesting concept in nature and then find a commercial application; in other instances, companies seek a solution to a specific problem and find an answer in the natural world. However, a second level of biomimicry takes into account sustainability. Here biomimicry draws inspiration from nature to create a product that's friendly to the environment.

Credit: Ei Compendex — Bioinspiration, Biomimetics, and Bioreplication conference; Journal of Structural Engineering; SciSearch® - Journal of Structural Engineering, Nanomedicine

Biomimicry surges
Proponents of biomimicry note that application of this science is not new. In 1948, after observing the way burdock seeds clung to his clothes and the fur of his dog during walks in the woods, George de Mestral, a Swiss electrical engineer, developed the concept of Velcro. Now the process of borrowing nature's blueprints is enjoying a resurgence, due in part to the search for more sustainable methods of agriculture, manufacturing, chemistry, energy generation, and health care. In Dialog U.S. Patents Fulltext database, the number of U.S. patents containing the term biomimicry or its synonyms increased significantly from 2000 to 2010. The economic slowdown drove a slight decrease in 2011–2012. Dialog's Derwent World Patents Index® database, covering patents from 41 countries, shows a similar global trend.

Biomimicry in action
A growing number of high-tech companies, research centers and innovators today are turning to the natural world for solutions to some of the most pressing problems of the 21st century—from creating safer vehicles, harnessing energy, and designing smarter buildings to curing disease and protecting our ecosystem. They are learning that animals, plants, and microbes are the world's greatest engineers.

Step 1: Biomimicry creates economic gain
Some innovations increase a company's bottom line but do not focus on sustainability.

• Nike's team of developers adopted concepts found in the pattern of cheetah spots, the structure of plant veins, the shape of armadillo scales and the stripes on flower petals into shoes and other athletic gear. Their inventors even applied the qualities of goat hoof traction to running shoe designs.
• Speedo swimsuits, inspired by shark skin, made their appearance at the Bejing Olympics.

Step 2: Biomimicry for economic gain and environmental benefit
Other innovations also have the potential to reduce carbon footprint.

• A famous example is the Japanese train Shinkasen. The Shinkasen line was full of tunnels that caused serious problems to the passengers. An engineer and bird lover working on the Tokyo-Hakata line, designed the train's nose in the form of the bill of the kingfisher. This design lowered the noise and electricity consumption and permitted a speed gain of 10%. Inventors continue to refine the bullet train in later models.
  
  Photo Credit: Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike license.
• Certain African termite mounds must maintain a constant temperature of 87 degrees Celsius (189 degrees Fahrenheit) in order for the fungus crop to survive. To achieve this, termites construct air vents that constantly move air throughout the mound, cooling or heating it to the same temperature as the mound itself. A building in Zimbabwe was designed according to the ventilation traps of African termite nests. The building saves up to 90% energy through thermal control. The design of these termite mounds, which are self-cooling, has inspired high-rise buildings with no air-conditioning.
• Locusts avoid running into each other in swarms by using highly evolved eyes that allow these insects to see in several directions at once. Automobile designers mimicked the locusts' vision when developing sensors that detect movement directly surrounding a car and warn drivers of impending crashes.
• The skin of sharks is covered with microscopic grooves that reduce fluid resistance at the same time it improves energy efficiency and speed. Tests have concluded that this kind of surface reduces frictions and consequently, energy costs and CO₂ emissions. Researchers are developing coatings for ship's hulls, submarines, aircraft fuselage and even swimwear for humans.
• Bumps on the flippers of humpback whales enable the fish to move through the water with little resistance from the water itself. These bumps inspired the design of quieter, more efficient wind turbines, fans and pumps.
  
  Photo Credit: NOAA
• Early warning systems for tsunamis have been developed using dolphins' multi-frequency approach for emitting sound waves over great distances underwater.
  
  Credit: Pascal, Ei Compendex, BIOSIS Previews®, Gale Group PROMT®

What does the future hold?
Future advances through biomimicry may have even more of a global impact upon technology and our lives.

• Professors in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Florida are working to create more efficient silicon-made solar cell panels. These scientists have turned to the moths' eyes, which are known for their low-reflective characteristics, for inspiration in developing non-reflection coatings on silicon to boost efficiency of solar panels. And, researchers in China and Japan are currently using what they know about the scales on butterfly wings, which act as tiny solar collectors, to design solar cell panels that could one day harvest and absorb light more efficiently.
• Inspired by how abalone develop their tough seashell armor, a bioengineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is using a similar biological principle to grow substantially longer lasting, tougher materials to create powerful, largely biodegradable electric car and lithium batteries and advances in medicine—all from genetically modified microscopic organisms.
• Robotic designers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University have created a promising robot named Stickybot that has footpads based on a gecko's feet that will stick to smooth surfaces, as well as another machine iSprawl, inspired by the motion of the cockroach. These mobile robots could one day be used for military operations or emergency rescue situations or even space exploration. Their next challenge is building a robot inspired by the cheetah. This robot—created from a lightweight carbon-fiber-foam composite—is being designed to run at least half the cheetah's top speed of 70 miles per hour.

Organizations are forming to spearhead the biomimetics and sustainability movement. Biomimicry Europa is holding conferences in Paris to highlight some of the latest innovations. San Diego, California, in partnership with the San Diego Zoo, recently opened its Bioinspiration Center to help companies create robots, materials and other products that are modeled after nature. Zoo scientists will study the animals in their care, while the biomimicry center works with companies and research institutions to turn the staff's findings into practical products. These are just a few of the innovations based on nature we may see in the future.

Credit: Gale Group Promt, Ei Compendex, Inspec®

Conclusion
Hordes of organisms casually perform feats we can only dream about. Bioluminescent algae splash chemicals together to light their body lanterns. Arctic fish and frogs freeze solid and then spring to life, having protected their organs from ice damage. Polar bears stay active with a coat of transparent hollow hairs covering their skins. Chameleons and cuttlefish hide without moving, changing the pattern of their skin to instantly blend with their surroundings. Bees, turtles and birds navigate without maps, while whales and penguins dive without scuba gear. How do they do it? How do dragonflies outmaneuver our best helicopters? How do hummingbirds cross the Gulf of Mexico on less than one tenth of an ounce of fuel? How do ants carry the equivalent of hundreds of pounds in a dead heat through the jungle?

Biomimicry offers an opportunity to bring successful economics together with conservation and is clearly a major emerging area of science and technology with huge potential to drive innovation.

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