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Video: Why Nature Loves Hexagons
From spirals to spots to fractals, nature is full of interesting patterns. Many of these patterns even resemble geometric shapes. One of the most common? Hexagons. Why do we see this six-sided shape occur so many times in nature? This week we explore why hexagons are so common in the natural world, from honeycomb to…
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Article: Monitoring Solitary Bees Using Open Technology
“Bees in the Backyard” is a citizen science technology project to investigate the nesting behavior of Mason bees, by Mike Teachman, amateur bee enthusiast and Paul Perrault senior field applications engineer. https://blog.arduino.cc/2016/02/23/monitoring-solitary-bees-using-open-technology/
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Article: Butterfly wings inspire a better way to absorb light in solar panels
The wings of a butterfly have inspired a new type of solar cell that can harvest light twice as efficiently as before and could one day improve our solar panels. https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/19/16503258/butterfly-wings-engineering-solar-cell-energy-biomimicry
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Video: What is Biomimicry?
Biomimicry Is Innovation Inspired By Nature. Learn more in this video by Fast Company that speaks to Janine Benyus founder of the Biomimicry Institute. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBUpnG1G4yQ
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Video: The world is poorly designed. But copying nature helps.
Biomimicry-the design movement pioneered by biologist and writer Janine Benyus. She’s a co-founder of the Biomimicry Institute, a non-profit encouraging creators to discover how big challenges in design, engineering, and sustainability have often already been solved through 3.8 billion years of evolution on earth. See real world application in this video.
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Biomimicry Toolbox
By applying nature’s design lessons, we can create solutions that help support a healthy planet. This digital resource site from the Biomimicry Institute provides a quick-start guide to biomimicry, introducing the core concepts and methods that are essential to successfully incorporate insights from nature into design. https://toolbox.biomimicry.org/
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Video:12 sustainable design ideas from nature | Janine Benyus
In this inspiring TED talk about recent developments in biomimicry, Janine Benyus provides heartening examples of ways in which nature is already influencing the products and systems we build. https://www.youtube.com/watch/?v=n77BfxnVlyc
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Video: Bats advancing human technology
Bats are known for their bony wings and fast flight. Researchers at Brown University in Rhode Island are studying these characteristics to determine how bats can advance human technology. https://www.pbs.org/video/bats-can-advancing-human-technology-zwsvpq/
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Student example: Bio-inspired drawing samples
To get you ready for the project of doing a nature-inspired drawing informed by the topic of pollinator decline and biodiversity loss. here are some examples First year engineering design drawings focusing on biomimicry, biomimetics and bio-inspired design. ISSUU link
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Video: From mach-20 glider to hummingbird drone| TED
“What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” asks Regina Dugan, then director of DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. In this breathtaking talk she describes some of the extraordinary projects — a robotic hummingbird, a prosthetic arm controlled by thought, and, well, the internet — that her agency…
