[sotd] How Biomimicry Works [March 25, 2009]
- From: "Site of the Day" <amholm@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: sotd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2009 11:10:12 -0300
Site of the Day for Wednesday, March 25, 2009
How Biomimicry Works
Today's site, from the folks at "How Stuff Works" takes a look at how science
has
often turned to nature in its attempts to accomplish its most sought-after
goals.
Gentle Subscribers will discover an upbeat presentation exploring an interesting
aspect of scientific development.
"Submarines of the future speed through the water with the help of wiggling fish
fins. Aircraft ascend through the clouds with flapping wings. In the desert, a
climber steadily approaches the summit of a cliff, open palms effortlessly
sticking
to rock with the use of gecko-inspired nanotechnology. You've probably only
encountered such nature-inspired future technologies in the imagined worlds of
science fiction and comic books, but the design approach already exists.
Inventors
and engineers have been looking to nature for inspiration ever since prehistoric
times." - from the website
The exhibit explains the process whereby science attempts to innovate by
copying or
mimicking the amazing elements present in nature. From the highly desirable
qualities of shark skin, to the cooling designs of Australian termite mounds,
the
presentation notes that all of nature is fair game for the scientific eye. A
highlight of the exhibit features a video from the Technology, Entertainment,
Design annual conference featuring author Janine Benyus discussing examples of
some
of the remarkable designs brought about through biomimicry. Additional
references
and external resources are also provided.
Beetle over to the site for a look at the innovations brought about by
biomimicry
at:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/evolution/biomimicry.htm
A.M. Holm
<admin-sotd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Manage your subscription and view the List archives on the web at:
<//www.freelists.org/cgi-bin/webpage?webpage_id=sotd> and
<//www.freelists.org/archives/sotd>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UNSUBSCRIBE by sending a blank email to sotd-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with
unsubscribe in the Subject field.
Other related posts:
- » [sotd] How Biomimicry Works [March 25, 2009] - Site of the Day
