There are two biomimicry workshops coming up soon. Check them out at: http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/education/training/

Today I was fortunate to attend a presentation by Janine Benyus at Google’s head office. Here is just one of dozens of new bio-inspired products she featured:

Our VIVACE technology uses the extensively studied phenomenon of vortex induced vibrations to extract useful energy from ocean, river, tidal and other water currents. Continued at http://www.vortexhydroenergy.com/

Seeking to capture the appearance, feel and sound of a babbling brook, the channel design remains functional while creating an indulging and unique sensory experience.

Stone is an embodiment of calm and permanence. PURE STONE takes this as its cue to create a unique collection for the bathroom – sensuous, high-quality, cosy. The design of the washbasin was inspired by pebbles smoothed by the flow of river water. Water flows from the specially designed outlet as if from a natural spring.

A cornerstone of the house renovation is our energy strategy and key to that will be monitoring whats usage. So I read this with interest:

A half-dozen companies are launching their first energy dashboards this year, and a few others are starting to gain traction with already available online tools. One of the biggest differences between these firms is whether companies will sell directly to the consumer or to utility partners for upcoming smart meter rollouts. Continued at http://earth2tech.com…

If you’re interested in this topic and you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, I’ll be attending an event on topic in Palo Alto Thursday night.

Sarah Kuck over at World Changing interviews Janine Benyus:

Smart Materials
JB: One of my favorite ideas is embedding our materials with sensors so they can sense when they are damaged, and perhaps can heal themselves. It’s a new way toward durability, which, when appropriate, is sustainability.

Continued at World Changing…

The Wall Street Journal asks four leading architects for their vision of a near-term, buildable ‘green house of the future”.

What will the energy-efficient house of the future look like?

It could have gardens on its walls or a pond stocked with fish for dinner. It might mimic a tree, turning sunlight into energy and carbon dioxide into oxygen. Or perhaps it will be more like a lizard, changing its color to suit the weather and healing itself when it gets damaged. Those are just a handful of the possibilities that emerged from an exercise in futurism.

The Wall Street Journal asked four architects to design an energy-efficient, environmentally sustainable house without regard to cost, technology, aesthetics or the way we are used to living.

Continued at WSJ…

You can look forward to more on this topic coming from the Biomimicry Institute in the near future, plus of course an ever growing library biological inspiration at AskNature.org.

Its been two years since Aptera - a new electric car company based in southern California - came onto my radar and 18 months since I placed my deposit. And this week I got to see one up close and personal during their visit to Palo Alto. Clearly this car is not for the shy, but its shape is purposeful: slip through the air while sipping power. If only Detroit had taken this to heart a few years ago.

When will it arrive in my garage? They say the first cars will roll off the production line in October and with allocation number 35 (they’ve taken over 4,000 deposits so far) I’m hoping to be driving mine this year. Of course thousands of challenges for a startup to deliver on time, so we shall see…

Dear friends,

Biomimicry continues to grow in San Diego!  Please see below for some of the highlights.

1.  Biomimicry Educational Conference.  The San Diego Zoo has partnered with the City of San Diego, the Biomimicry Institute, UCSD, Point Loma Nazarene University and San Diego State University to organize the region’s first biomimicry conference for educators!  It will be on October 2, 2009 and Janine Benyus will be the keynote speaker.  Please save this date, we will send more information soon.

2.  San Diego Science Festival.  The San Diego Zoo and High Tech High are hosting a biomimicry booth at the San Diego Science Festival’s Expo Day in Balboa Park, on April 4 from 10:30am - 6pm.  From animal encounters to fun games, you can learn about real examples in which nature has inspired new products.  We will be at the East end of the Bea Evenson fountain, between the Natural History Museum and the Ruben H. Fleet Science Center.  For more information, please visit http://www.sdsciencefestival.org/expo-day.html.

On Thursday, April 2nd from 6pm - 9 pm, San Diego Gas & Electric will discuss sustainable energy programs including smart grid initiatives, energy efficiency, and available careers in the energy industry! This event will give high school students and anyone interested in learning about green careers the opportunity to meet and network with engineering and technology industry experts. The event will be held at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center (1875 El Prado San Diego, CA 92101).  Space is very limited - please pre-register to secure your seat.
http://www.sdsciencefestival.org/sdsf-event-registration.html

3.  Biomimicry in the News. “When people think of art, they think of the Louvre. When people think of nature-inspired designs and solutions,
they think of San Diego.  At least, that’s what local enthusiasts hope to achieve in the next several years.”  Rebecca Go at the San Diego Daily Transcript recently highlighted the efforts of the San Diego Zoo, the City of San Diego and High Tech High to help build San Diego into the first biomimicry hub.  To read the full article, please click here: http://www.sddt.com/News/article.cfm?SourceCode=20090326crn.

4.  AskNature.org.  The Biomimicry Institute has released its Beta version of AskNature.org, a database of nature’s unique functions and processes.  AskNature is a free, open source project, built by the community and for the community. Its goal is to connect innovative minds with life’s best ideas, and in the process, inspire technologies that create conditions conducive to life.  Please visit AskNature.org for your next business or research inspiration.

For more information on the San Diego Zoo’s work in biomimicry, please visit www.sandiegozoo.org/biomimicry.

If you would like to be added to this mailing list or have any biomimicry news or events that you would like to share, please email Helen Cheng at hcheng@sandiegozoo.org.

———————————-

Helen Cheng

Office of Conservation Finance

Zoological Society of San Diego
PO Box 120551
San Diego, CA 92112-0551

Tel: (619) 557-3927

Cel: (619) 517-3216

Fax: (619) 744-3375

hcheng@sandiegozoo.org

www.zoobiomimicry.org

It gives one hope…

Participating in the fair for his first time, third-grader Matthew Keane of Westlake Elementary stood proudly in front of his biomimicry display.

“I wanted to learn if the leading edge of a humpback whale’s fin made it more efficient and hydrodynamic,” Keane said. “So I made two different whirly birds and dropped them from 18-feet. I found that the bumps on the edges of the fin cause the whale to turn sharper, and the shape increases lift and decreases drag.”

Continued at http://www.mercurynews.com/centralcoast/ci_11970162

 

See also the Biomimicry Institute’s Ask The Planet CD designed to encourage students like Matthew.

Via MSNBC via Discovery, news that scientists hope to create a sunscreen product inspired by hippo sweat. I liked the closing comment.

“As a student said to me several years ago, nature is full of solutions to our technical problems,” he said. “We just have to figure out how to look in the right place, and ask the right questions.”

Check out the video of collecting sweat samples (though you’ll have to put up with the dorky commentary from the two NBC anchors).

More links via Google.