Bay Soundings l Borrowing Ideas from Nature

By Mary Kelley Hoppe

Stop for a moment and take a look at the natural genius that surrounds you. How does a leaf harness energy from the sun? Or a spider spin silk that ounce for ounce is stronger than steel? Or a mussel cling to a rock when being pounded by ocean waves? How do migrating birds travel thousands of miles, returning year after year to the same spot without so much as a roadmap? See bottom of story for Teachers Lounge.

Meet Robin Murphy
USF Engineering Professor Robin Murphy is a copy-cat of the best sort, a pioneer who borrowed an idea from marsupials – critters like kangaroos that carry babies around in their pouches – in designing a rugged little search-and-rescue robot. She is director of CRASER, the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue. Murphy’s mini-machines, deployed at the World Trade Center following the terrorist attacks of 9-11, are earning high marks for their ability to navigate tight spots and disaster sites too treacherous for humans. Her “marsupial robot” is a real pack rat – a larger mother robot that shuttles three “baby” robots closer to the scene.

If necessity is the mother of all invention, then nature is its best and brightest student, having already solved many of the problems humans grapple with on a day-to-day basis. The natural world is filled with marvels of design and engineering that have stood the test of time – animals, plants and organisms that have evolved and adapted to survive.

Biomimicy is the process or art of imitating natural designs and functions. It’s hardly new — indigenous cultures relied heavily on the lessons of the natural world for hunting, shelter and ultimately survival. Alaskan hunters, for example, still hunt for seals in much the same way polar bears do. And nature has inspired plenty of modern Western inventions — the Wright Brothers studied birds when they were trying to build an airplane.

Reality check

The texture of lotus petals, which remain immaculately clean in otherwise muddy swamps, has inspired water-repellant paints.

What’s new is really a renewal of interest in looking to nature for specific advice after coming to terms with reality — environmental reality that is, including a gradual rise in the earth’s temperature and sea levels associated with the burning of fossil fuels. Such events are sounding alarms and finally putting to rest the notion that humans can continue to consume natural resources and generate waste at the dangerous pace we have set. And that we may just be able to learn something from survivors of the animal and plant kingdoms.

Increasingly, businesses and an emerging group of bio-engineers are studying how the natural world works — and applying those lessons to the development of better, safer products that require less energy to make and generate less waste and toxic byproducts.

In Montreal, biotechnology firm Nexia is producing man-made spider filament, which may be used to make new bullet-proof vests, better surgical sutures and environmentally friendly fishing line.

Blue mussels know how to stick around, especially underwater. They are inspiring a new generation of waterproof adhesives including Pure Bond™, a formaldehyde-free replacement glue in particle board and other wood-based building materials.

At the University of Florida, researchers are studying the composition of horse bone, which is unusually strong and stress tolerant, to inspire a new generation of lighter, stronger aircraft material

The skin of cuttle fish, masters of camouflage that can change color to match their surroundings, could be imitated in designing military uniforms that do the same.

And, Velcro, perhaps the best-known biomimetric invention, was inspired by a big hairy dog infested with burrs. In pondering how to rid his dog of the pesky hitchhikers, Swiss amateur inventor Georges de Mestral concluded burrs might be a good model for fastening together fabrics, ergo Velcro.

Dana Ayers Baumeister brims with enthusiasm for these copy-cat inventions and the bright minds behind them. “If we’re able to glean the wisdom of creatures that have been here far longer than us, we not only can improve upon our own innovations but learn from organisms that are living proof that we can live sustainably on the planet,” says Baumeister, who co-founded the Montana-based Biomimcry Guild with Janine Benyus in 2000.

Sharks are swift but they’re not smooth – smooth-skinned, that is. Shark skin has laminar ridges and flex that enable these apex predators to move quickly in water, while keeping tiny marine organisms from attaching. Shark skin has inspired a plastic rubber coating for boat hulls that reduces drag and accrual of spores and plankton by 85%.

Years ago, the Colorado native traveled to Florida to study marine biology and symbiotic relationships in nature at Sarasota’s New College. She returned to Montana to do her graduate work, and happened upon Benyus’ groundbreaking book on biomimicry, published in 1997. “I read it in a single sitting, and after three days of shaking in pure excitement, I figured out what I wanted to do with my life.” Turns out, Benyus lived just a half-hour down the road, no small coincidence in such a vast and roomy state, Baumeister says. The two are now business colleagues and life-long friends.

Ounce for ounce, spider webs are tougher than steel with incredible elasticity or stretch. Imitators are excited about spinning manmade spider filaments into new seat belts, parachutes and bulletproof vests.

To kids, teachers, and anyone else with a sense of adventure, Baumeister tosses out this simple activity: Go outside, observe how nature deals with a challenge, boil it down to its basic function (ie; lifting, sticking, self-cleaning, defending), figure out how it works, and what improved process or product this natural wonder might inspire. “For some folks just making the connection that nature has to solve the exact same challenges we do is an important step that all of us have to make in reconnecting with the natural world and being open to learning from it.”

Teachers Lounge

Learn more about biomimicry:
The Biomimicry Guild helps communities and companies consult nature to create products and processes that are adapted to life on earth over the long haul. The group offers research, workshops and really cool talks about the genius that surrounds us. Coming up this summer: Biologists at the Design Table, July 22-26, 2006, a workshop for biologists, naturalists and teachers eager to apply nature’s elegant designs to human challenges, conducted at the breathtaking Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch in Dupuyer, Montana. Visit www.biomimicry.net for more information.

Earth Force to the rescue:
Finding information about environmental education organizations in Tampa Bay will soon be just a few keystrokes away, thanks to a new online portal created by Suncoast Earth Force with funding from the Pinellas County Environmental Fund and Tampa Bay Estuary Program. Plans are to launch Tampa Bay’s Guide to Environmental Education Resources (GEER) this summer, but Earth Force is accepting requests from teachers and agencies who want to be notified when the portal goes live. Direct requests/inquiries to Scott Willis at swillis@earthforce.org or call 727-215-8619. Suncoast Earth Force (www.earthforce.org/suncoast) engages young people as active citizens in improving their communities and environment. The award-winning program teaches essential academic skills including critical thinking, teamwork, problem-solving and decision-making through authentic learning experiences.

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