Sciences Participating with Arts & Culture in Education

Biomimicry: innovation inspired by nature

Illustrated by CAMILLE BEAUDOIN

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”

      Lao Tzu

For about 3.8 billion years, since the first bacteria came to life, living creatures on Earth had gone through a very gradual process of evolution, learning to perfect the mechanisms of flying, of diving to the depths of the oceans, of living in the most extreme conditions, and of navigating the world. Those who worked within the constraints imposed by nature became the survivors of the Earth, and those who didn’t… turned into fossils.

All organisms dwell within the constraints of nature’s laws and demands, trying every system and possible strategy within those constraints to increase their chance of survival without jeopardizing their future.

How do humans––the creatures supposedly at the apex of evolution––fare when it comes to fitting within those constraints?

During the early days of the Scientific Revolution, Francis Bacon advocated “torturing nature to reveal her secrets.” In other words, why adapt to nature’s constraints when you could make nature adapt to you? Ironically, since then, humans have become so successful at the latter that we face a new problem: the possibility that we are crushing nature under our own very large eco-footprint.  

The black smoke that began rising from the factories of the Industrial Revolution (what William Blake called “those dark satanic mills”); the sudden escalation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere since then; the projections by environmental scientists that large coastal cities could be underwater 50 years from now due to climate change––all suggest we human beings have become so adept at making nature adapt to us that we are not longer just torturing it for its secrets; we are torturing it for its “resources,” beyond what it can sustain.

The question now, therefore, is whether we human beings can impose constraints on ourselves? We know we are very talented at bending nature to our will. But are we capable of bending our own will so that we can return once again, like the rest of the animal kingdom, to working within nature?

There exist a group of scientists known as biomimics, led by Ms. Janine Benyus, a biologist and an innovation consultant, who believe that we are, indeed, capable of learning to work within nature. Biomimicry involves the observation and study of nature’s processes and then the attempt to imitate these processes in order to solve human problems. (Velcro, a technology inspired by burs, would be a classic example.) Biomimicry creates and develops nature-inspired innovations that aim to protect the world we are living in, creating a sustainable planet for the generations to come, while addressing our human needs.

In her book, Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, Benyus calls Biomimicry “the conscious emulation of life’s genius––innovation inspired by nature.” This new approach of working with nature, of doing things “the nature’s way,” is truly revolutionary in contrast to our  juggernaut approach of steamrolling nature for the sake of profit. In this new approach, our co-dwellers on this planet––our fellow creatures––can teach us to work within the range of nature’s limits, incurring low energy costs and avoiding damaging the planet.

So how have our planet-mates perfected the mechanisms of flying, swimming, circumnavigation and thermoregulation without harming others and the environment for 3.8 billions of years? They simply have evolved abiding by the laws of nature, which could be outlined as follows:

Nature runs on sunlight.

Nature uses only the energy it needs.

Nature fits form to function.

Nature recycles everything.

Nature rewards cooperation.

Nature banks on diversity.

Nature demands local expertise.

Nature curbs excesses from within.

Nature taps the power of limits.

(Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired from Nature)

By abiding by these laws of nature, we could change the way we produce food, manufacture materials, create medicines, harness energy, do business and store information.

For instance, copying the Lotus’ strategy of self-cleaning may end our dependency on toxic detergents and costly cleaning materials. The Lotus leaf’s microscopic rough structure reduces adhesive force between the surface and the dirt and water molecules, causing the latter not to stick and instead to roll off the surface. The micro-structural principle of the Lotus has led to the production of dirt-free paints without any chemical toxic detergents, resulting in a 10 fold decrease of fluorocarbon production.

Similarly, Humpback whales have sparked a revolution in the conceptualization of wind turbines. Who would have thought that whale’s agility and diving skills hundreds of feet under the ocean could teach us how to capture wind energy more efficiently, even in less windy conditions? It turns out that turbine blades that mimic the features of the Humpback whale produce more power at low wind speed, are quieter, and are 20% more efficient than the conventional smooth edge turbines.

Other examples: a termite den, for example, maintains its internal temperature in a way that beats our best heat regulation systems. Farms, designed the “prairie’s way” can beome self-fertilizing and pest-resistant. The ability of leaves to capture sunlight can revolutionized our solar panels.

What better models could we ask for? Our fellow creatures in the plant and animal kingdoms depend only on on sunlight, wind and water alone to harness energy; no oil drilling, and no nuclear fission! Might we be able to learn from them? Biomimic revolution is indeed a leap forward for humanity in our goal of achieving sustainable life for us and the future generations.

What we need to learn from nature, to begin to adapt ourselves, rather than simply adapting nature to us, is a change of heart: to humbly accept that we are not gods in this world, that this world is not solely for us to use, and most important, that our planet has limits. If we do not take proper actions, all the beauty that we know today will simply become dreams in the future.

Go out. Walk in nature. Stare into her eyes. And learn from her.