Nature as Mentor
There's something interesting happening in the way science and industry is beginning to develop technology and products: Our inventions are looking more like what nature produces. Instead of reinventing the wheel scientists are looking to nature to see how things work, and then apply this to paint, clothing and TV's etc. It's called biomimicry.
According to the Biomimicry Guild, biomimicry is an attempt to find “sustainable solutions by emulating nature's time-tested patterns and strategies … that are well-adapted to life on earth over the long haul.”
Biomimicry is when design and biology collaborate to create new products. Since the systems and species that survive today are the result of 3.8 billion years of evolution, they might have evolved something worth learning from and applying to how we interact with, design, create and make things.
For example, using what's called the “lotus effect” GreenShield has developed nanotechnology that traps air on the surface of cloth enabling it to, in effect, self clean and repel stains. The result is a fabric protection that requires less cleaning, less water and less chemicals. It was inspired by the lotus leaf. It was discovered that with its many small microscopic crevasses, the lotus leaf was trapping small pockets of air, so that water rolls off carrying dirt with it, thereby cleaning itself.
Butterflies are expert color renderers, or make perfect “photonic crystals and Bragg reflectors” to put it scientifically. The way butterflies render color is what scientists are researching to develop better TV sets that consume less energy and emit more brilliant color. Scientists are developing “light emitting diodes” that are improving the ways we emit and direct light based on the way butterflies reflect color and brilliance.
A company called Dyesol is developing solar collecting pigments. This technology is based on photosynthesis. The dyes can be adhered to “flexible materials <such as> architectural elements…, building paints, or textiles.” It is reported to be more efficient and less expensive than current solar technology and requires less energy to make. Imagine your clothes generating heat or becoming solar chargers for your gadgets or the paint on the side of your house is collecting the suns energy to power your house.
Other research is occurring in kinetic energy, inspired by the flea's ability to jump long distances. Scientists are working on detection devices inspired by dogs' acute sense of smell which enable some to detect epileptic seizures before they happen and some forms of cancer. By controlling ventilation tubes and the mass of their nest macrotermitine termites are able to maintain a steady temperature of 87 degrees inside there nests in spite of temperature fluctuations between 35 and 104 degrees; this research “informed the design” of the Eastgate Center in Harare, Zimbabwe.
The segue that technological development started about 200 years or so is beginning to right itself. We are moving from the perspective of masters over nature to a symbiotic relationship with nature. Perhaps we are becoming humbled by the mixed results of our own ingenuity (in that we impair our health with the toxins in our food, pollution and species impairment or die-off) and see we are not separate from nature, but another amazing expression of it. We're learning from the genius all around us and emulating it to provide the luxuries and conveniences we have become accustomed to while reducing our impact on the habitats that make life possible. This is a move in the right direction and I'm very excited to see where it takes us.
This is an exciting time, it's our time. There are troubles and challenges and things appear dire, but there are many opportunities to help improve the world we live in. The magic is that it's our little acts that will make big change. It doesn't require that we sacrifice anything; as a matter of fact there is an increase in health, comfort and financial savings. Even if we do just one thing, one thing at a time, out of the many possibilities we are making a small contribution to the world we live in.
Ben Kelley is the principal at Building Shelter Inc., Building Shelter is the premier building company of choice, creating excellent homes while caring for the earth they build from. Ben is a Certified Green Professional (CGP) by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) www.buildingshelter.com , info@buildingshelter.com , 508.693.7734
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