Biomimicry (from bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate) is an ancient concept recently returning to scientific thought that examines nature, its models, systems, processes, and elements— and emulates or takes inspiration from them to solve human problems sustainably. Scientific and engineering literature often uses the term Biomimetics for the process of understanding and applying biological principles to human designs. This includes biomaterials, biomechanics, biological systems composed of individuals of one species (e.g., schools, herds and swarms), or multispecies ensembles.

-Wikipedia (full link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomimicry)

Blog: http://news.mongabay.com/news-index/biomimicry1.html


The field of biomimicry is a growing field of study that has yielded some of the most fascinating innovations I have personally seen ("innovation" may be a strong word since its actually mimicry). It may seem like common sense to turn to mother nature for ideas about design, but it seems that only now in recent times has man had the depth of understanding to unlock how nature works. Nature's structures are the restult of millions of years of evolution. Only the most effective organisms have stood the test of time. Our technology that we have invented along our own guidelines has served well, but to find the true genius designers we must first get over ourselves, for lack of a better phrase, and humbly recognize that many of the processes we try to perfect for ourselves has been childs play for mother nature. Today, there is a high level of awareness of our inability to coexist with the natural world. Perhaps by copying the processes of nature we can learn to better integrate ourselves into the biosphere around us instead of having to resuscitate our planet like a hospital patient on life support.