Some great news from the Biomimicry Institute: Arizona State University has become the newest member of the Biomimicry Affiliate Program of the Montana-based Biomimicry Institute. ASU is the only U.S. institution to be awarded affiliate status and joins Iberoamericana University, Mexico City, and the Ontario College of Art & Design, Toronto. The agreement between ASU […]
Author Archives: David Fox
The Year in Biomimicry: By Tom McKeag
Tom McKeag teaches bio-inspired design at the California College of the Arts and UC Berkeley and closely tracks the burgeoning biomimicry industry. Here are his “Tommy” awards for the best and brightest biomimetic products/concepts from 2009: It’s time to review last year’s bio-inspired products and services and pick my favorites, and, since this is my […]
TBI’s First Report – Inspiring Indeed!
In 2005 I provided the seed grant that gave rise to The Biomimicry Institute. Since then a dedicated team has developed the tools that students, professionals and educators need to join the burgeoning biomimicry movement. Please join me in closing out the decade by reviewing our successes to date and ambitious plans for the future: […]
Biomimetic Screen Technology
With CES, the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, just around the corner I thought this introduction to a biomimetic screen technology from Qualcomm/Mirosol was timely. Qualcomm’s mirasol display technology is based on a reflective technology called IMOD (Interferometric MODulation), with MEMS structures at its core. This MEMS–based innovation is both bistable, meaning it […]
More Use – Less Stuff part 2
I’m just back from Green Festival buzzing with new ideas, renewed energy and a few new connections to followup. See if you can find the common thread on just three of the exhibitors: http://sharingsolution.com http://rentalic.com http://cohousing.org. Yes, back to my earlier post about getting more from less. I believe this is a powerful meme that […]
Mimicking the Building Prowess of Nature
Long-time Australian friend Tony Smith copied me a link to a recent MIT Technology Review article that offers some some stunning nano-scale images like the one above. Clearly we have the power to remake the way we make things – here’s hoping we do so with good intentions and mindful of the Precautionary Principle. The […]
Disturbing Report from Pew
IÂ generally focus on solutions rather than preaching to the choir about the issues, but sometimes a report like this is a wakeup call for me and everyone who believes there is a good chance that human influence climate change (chaos!) is underway. “Number of Americans who believe in climate change drops, survey shows only […]
More Use – Less Stuff
I just spent the last three days at the annual Bioneers Conference. The closing speaker was Ann Leonard – creator of The Story of Stuff. Her talk inspired me to put together a few thoughts and a ‘presentation’. The fastest path to sustainability, to meeting the goals of Kyoto, 350.org, etc is to make exponentially […]
A Problem-Solver’s Guide to Copycatting
FastCompany giving biomimicry some attention: Let’s say you’re looking to create a detergent that works superbly in cold temperatures. This would seem to be a Chemical Engineering Problem. But, as the zoo’s scientists tell us, it’s also an Antarctic Icefish Problem. When the icefish eats other fish, it has to digest the oils of its […]