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: […]
Category Archives: Greenr
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 […]
Biomimicry Symposium in San Diego
Morphogenesis
Wow! In the tech industry we would call this “disruptive” technology. “…a new set of design tools, included in the newest release of ID CAD software SolidThinking. The technology, which ST is calling Morphogenesis, is a sort of semi-automated biomimicry toolbox…” Continued at http://www.core77.com/blog/
Biomimicry and the US Financial System
Harold Raveche, president of the Stevens Institute of Technology, offers an opinion piece suggesting a look at nature will provide answers as the US government works to overhaul the country’s financial system. The options are stark and clear: Do we want an inflexible and stifled state-controlled economy or a vibrant and responsive free-market system that […]