Biomimicry

We are surrounded by genius

I first heard this term when I watched ‘Earth hour’ of Leo. There was one biologist lady caught my eye. I googled her ‘Jenine Benyus’ she is the mother of this new stream of science filed balled ‘Biomimicry’.

Biomimicry means ‘Boi’ - Life, animals, insects, birds, trees around us. ‘Mimicry’ - mimicking, copying the millions of years of their evolution. Every living creature is different in itself, has different abilities, is made for different purposes. All of them have been tested for their abilities and evolved as we humans have for millions of years. So, why not copy and create a sustainable way of doing things.

We have invested many things, but all of them have limitations and create pollution in a way or another. I see the plastic as the biggest mistake of humankind, it cannot be biodegraded, it is the biggest cause of a lot of pollution like sea animals dying, soil unfertilized, air pollution also when burnt. So, why only humans need plastic not other animals on earth, what they use? Have we ever thought of it? If we go back to the biology of our own earthlings we will find all the answers.

Genius organisms are doing things are more harmoniously with nature without destroying it. When we have a problem to solve we should ask nature that how nature will solve it or may have already solved it.

Engineers had an issue in bullet train when it used to go in the tunnel and while coming out making a sonic boom, so the engineer used how the kingfisher bird enters from air to water without making any ripples in water, and the problem is solved.

Jenine says ‘We are not first to manufacture’

The Japanese use a quote or term for going to nature called ‘Forest Bathing’. It is when we go to the forest and see things differently. Every minute tons of things being done, in nature, and leaving raw materials of next life form. Where we make things with tonnes of waste with absolutely no use. What makes things work in nature? built to shape safely without making any waste of anything.

Take an example of a tree it is made of material available, build block by block without making any waste. And even after its life ends it is the raw material for fungus, the fungus is the raw material for insects and rats, and these are the raw material for birds. It goes on, nothing is waster a perfect supply chain, no time wasted in waiting, no one needs an invitation it is organically done. It is a cyclic process of life form.

We should focus on Life friendly chemistry to make things. We should be  Additives than subtractive while creating things. We use machines to crave things down and end up with 96% waste and get a 4% finished product. Most material made in whole life forms is only 5 polymers, and we use 250 + and still counting for every application we have new plastic and it is hard to recycle. These geniuses concentrate materials and we dispersed it, this is the basic evolution in thinking we have to make. Beetle 1 material all the functions like color, shield, odor but whereas to make a bar of small chocolate uses 7 material.

There following steps biomimicry can help find problems. Each category has hundreds of solutions.

Simplified supply chain - Tree leafs available easily for fungus, like co2, is easily available for use.
Elegant structure - Tree lief is an elegant structure. How bones are created, it is lighter where it can be or tree for that matter has the perfect structure to hold itself for years.
Life friendly chemistry - Peacock has so colors in its feathers but it all made up of layers of things, can we create it. There are no dyes for it.
Return to nature - When the purpose is served it should go back to nature for becoming the raw material to another life form.
Natures wisdom available for everyone. Askthenature.org is the storage of genius organisms and it is adding every day one by one we billions of organisms we have tapped in few only for now. She is leading this with making a library and converting things downloadable for using chemical engineers or civil engineers through computer-aided design software. Until information is not available in terms engineers can use there will not be the use of it. Please join Janin Benyus in this evolution.

We don’t need an industrial revolution, we need an industrial evolution.

References - www.asknature.org, www.biomimicry.net, www.google.com

Copyright - Images are taken from google free of copyrights.