Inventors Find Inspiration in Natural Phenomena

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/28/AR2008122801436.html

Inventors Find Inspiration in Natural Phenomena

By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 29, 2008; A08

…

"The idea behind biomimicry is that life has already solved the challenges that we're trying to solve," said Janine Benyus, who leads the Biomimicry Guild, a Helena, Mont.-based consulting group. "There are literally as many ideas as there are organisms."

…

Knowing that the pearl oyster uses carbon dioxide to construct its calcium carbonate shell, a Canada-based company called CO2 Solution developed and patented a technology that converts carbon dioxide emissions into a water-based solution of bicarbonate ions, which can be turned into pure carbon dioxide gas or solid calcium carbonate. The firm has applied the process to cement production, reducing the large amounts of CO2 that process releases.

…

Biomimicry is also gaining traction as researchers seek to cut the costs of solar cells and make them less rigid. Two companies -- Konarka Technologies in Lowell, Mass., and Dyesol in New South Wales, Australia -- have developed thin, dye-sensitized solar cells that operate on the same principle that plants use to absorb the sun's rays and convert them to energy. These cells are not as efficient as their photovoltaic counterparts, but they are 60 percent cheaper and more flexible.

…

[Hydra]

1. Nature is smarter and stronger than us

We would be wise to copy what she has accomplished through trial and error.

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. I don't know if nature is necessary smarter or stronger than us

On the other hand, she's been around a lot longer than we have.

[Hydra]

3. Remember that tsunami?

Or maybe when Yellowstone blows.

We are indeed the ultimate copycat species, but we started thinking that we had all the answers. All of the other species have had issues they overcame and things they created(spider silk, eating radation, etc.), so we'd be stupid to think we had it all figured out.

[OKIsItJustMe]

5. We've demonstrated (to our own misfortune) that we are capable of dramatically overpowering Nature

As for whether Nature is smarter than us or not… Well, now you're getting into philosophy…

Is "evolution" smart? Is Nature a "designer"/"creator?"

If we re-engineered the human eye (modeling it after others in Nature) we would probably attach the optic nerve differently, eliminating the "blind spot." Was it Nature's wisdom that gave us a "blind spot?" Or was it simple chance which assigned it to us?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/change/grand/page05.html

On the other hand, there are many things in Nature which over the course of eons have been honed to near perfection, and we would indeed be fools not to learn from them.

[jfkraus]

6. Nature is the framework within which evolution occurs.

Darwinian Evolution is a passive/reactive experience, not a controlled/proactive activity. Our world today is the result of millions of years of genetic mutation/variance and dumb luck survival, not trial and error.

[diane in sf]

4. Nature--4 Billion plus years of experience and evolution to tap into.

[populistdriven]

7. Nature gave us the GOP and pinworms.