Biomimetics offers a broad perspective for innovation in a multitude of professional fields, from biomedicine to architecture, design, communication, urbanism, engineering, economics and human cognitive progress itself.
Biomimicry draws its inspiration from nature to emulate its best designs effectively. This new science imitates the forms, processes and systems of nature to create innovative and respectful solutions with the ecosystems.
This is accomplished by observing, analyzing and finally applying a mimesis of one (and sometimes several) of the three main functions.
Morphology
By imitating the morphology of various living organisms, teams of scientists have developed, for example:
The Shinkansen bullet train was designed with the imitation of the shape of the kingfisher’s head.Thanks to the sharp shape of its beak, the kingfisher is the bird that is best adapted to moving between different environments (air-water). This mimesis makes it possible to reduce the impact on the train when it drives from an open-air space into a tunnel where the air is denser.
An optimized wind turbine system based on the shape of humpback whale fins, that reduces resistance to the the wind.
Found in sharks skin, adapted to repel bacteria. The observation of this characteristic has resulted in the creation of a covering material for surfaces in rooms occupied by people with a compromised immune system.
Processes
Organic processes serve as inspiration for products such as:
certain beetles in Namibia use the topography of their exoskeleton to condense moisture from the air so that they can hydrate themselves. This process is currently being studied in order to find an application for water shortage.
structures created by termites have served as inspiration for the architecture: the East gate Centre in Harare (Zimbabwe) uses this concept to drastically reduce the energy consumption that is used to regulate the interior temperature.
Cephalopods manipulate light radiation to blend in with colour changes. A material is being developed that mimics this property, providing multiple potential applications.
Systems
Organic systems serve as inspiration for products such as:
During the day, termites store CO2 residues released from their metabolism in order to then promote the natural ventilation of their structures at night. This type of system is being applied in new architectural models called “passive” which replace active heating.
In the city of Kalundborg (Denmark), symbiosis is used to reduce waste from human activity. Part of the idea is that leftovers from one activity can become the source of another. In this way, they seek to close the circle of human production