Biomimicry in action | Janine Benyus

Biomimicry: Learning from Nature

Janine Benyus presents biomimicry as the practice of learning design principles from organisms and ecosystems. Rather than copying nature’s appearance or using organisms directly, biomimics study how nature performs a function and adapt its “blueprints” or processes to human problems.

The talk’s central question is: “How would nature solve this?”

Examples of Biomimicry

• High-speed trains: An engineer took inspiration from the kingfisher, which enters water with little splash. Reshaping a bullet train’s nose helped reduce tunnel noise while making the train faster and more energy-efficient.
• Bacteria-resistant surfaces: Shark skin has a microscopic pattern that makes it difficult for bacteria to attach. Sharklet Technologies applied this surface design to hospital materials as an alternative to relying only on chemical disinfectants.
• Collecting water from fog: A Namibian desert beetle’s wing covers have water-attracting tips and water-repelling sides that channel fog droplets toward its mouth. Building designers have explored using a similar surface to collect water.
• Lower-carbon concrete: Coral-building organisms use carbon dioxide as a material. Calera adapted this idea to make cement and concrete while capturing carbon dioxide.
• Solar power: A solar cell modeled on how leaves work is described as self-assembling, inexpensive, and rechargeable.
• Water filtration: Aquaporins—hourglass-shaped pores in cell membranes—move water while leaving many dissolved substances behind. Aquaporin is using this principle to develop desalination membranes.
• Lightweight structures: Trees and bones continually strengthen themselves along lines of stress. Algorithms based on this process have been used to design lighter bridges, beams, and a car structure.
• Materials and manufacturing: A beetle uses chitin to achieve several functions, including strength, resilience, and waterproofing. Benyus contrasts this with human products that often use multiple layers and materials to achieve similar results.
• Nanotechnology: Some bacteria produce nanoparticles and then release proteins that gather them, causing them to leave the surrounding solution. This natural process may inform safer nanomaterial design.
• Energy efficiency: Ant and bee foraging behavior inspires “swarm” algorithms for coordinating household appliances and reducing peak electricity use.
• Moving water without pumps: Cornell scientists are developing a “synthetic tree” based on capillary action and transpiration, potentially to move water through building materials.
• Electrical insulation: The electric eel can generate high voltage without harming itself, raising questions about how organisms insulate themselves from their own electrical output.
• Wind turbines: The scalloped edges of humpback whale flippers influence water flow and inspired turbine designs that can work in slower winds.
• Wireless communications: An MIT radio chip modeled on the cochlea is designed to receive several types of signals while using less power.
• Cities and ecosystems: Benyus advocates for ecological performance standards so that cities provide ecosystem services at least as well as the natural systems they replace.

Conclusion

Benyus argues that biomimicry can help people design in ways that support life over the long term. She describes AskNature.org as a resource for organizing biological knowledge by design and engineering function, helping inventors find natural examples relevant to specific challenges.

Researchers, Sources, and Organizations Featured

• Janine Benyus — Speaker; Biomimicry Guild
• Jack Hedley — Czech photographer
• Andrew Parker — Oxford scientist cited for studying the desert beetle
• Paul Hawken — Associated with OneSun
• Dr. Adam Neiman — Credited for the visualization of Earth’s water and atmosphere
• E. O. Wilson — Associated with the Encyclopedia of Life
• Cornell scientists — Developing the “synthetic tree” concept
• JR West — Bullet-train company whose engineer applied the kingfisher-inspired design
• Organizations and companies: Sharklet Technologies, Calera, Grimshaw, Aquaporin, General Motors/Opel, Regen, MIT, HOK Architects, Encyclopedia of Life (EOL), and AskNature.org