Bio-Mimicking - Looking to Nature

Nature is Amazing

Nature is amazing if you ever stop to watch it in action, everything a complex system of systems dependent on each other. Darwin presented us with the ground-breaking Theory of Evolution, the fittest survive, the weakest perish, the gene pool enriches. Evolution happens over thousands of years, takes many generations and of course it’s not just about the strongest. It’s also about the ability to adapt in the environment. As long as the environment doesn’t change too quickly, nature finds ways to adjust, optimise and survive, honing and modifying designs and processes to do so. 

Bio-Mimicking is studying the natural world for clues to drive future innovation. What has taken nature millions of years to perfect should not be overlooked and often, whilst seemingly irrelevant, nature can throw up solutions to human problems which are not only remarkable but with the type of efficiency and effectiveness that only evolution can drive.

Flight has long fascinated humans, eventually achieving the first unpowered flight in 1783 by hot air balloon and powered flight in 1903 in the first successful aeroplane called Kitty Hawk. However, the ability for flight has evolved naturally in animals many times, at least 4 times in separate animals and gliding in many more. 

Gliding particularly seems to have evolved in rainforest animals to aid travel from tree to tree, where they are generally very tall and widely spaced. It has also evolved in amphibious animals, generally to escape predators. 
Flying squirrels, with numerous species scattered across the northern hemisphere are by far the most successful group of mammals that have adopted this way of going airborne. Essentially they pack their own parachute, stretching it between their lower limbs and uniquely extended wrists to enable them to glide from tree to tree. 

It’s difficult to pin pinpoint when this group of squirrels decided it was time there was a quicker route between trees, but to put evolution into some perspective, research suggests they split from tree squirrels about 23 million years ago and studies into fossils suggest the animals were already gliding from tree to tree around 36 million years ago. 

And this brings us on to a great example of Bio-Mimicking – wing suits. By observing the success of our tree jumping friends the concept of the wing suit was born. By donning this special suit, experienced sky divers are able to soar, gliding through the sky rather than parachuting, dramatically increasing their horizontal velocity, able to cover great distances at speed. This graceful flight usually ends with the suited glider deploying a parachute to bring them safely to the ground but there has been a successful landing without a parachute landing into carboard boxes!

Other examples of Bio-Mimicking are of how architects have been able to draw from the studies into termite mounds and way that they keep the temperature regulated inside. By using massive towers in the building design, architects are able to suck in cool air at night to cool the floor slab and keep the building cool during the heat of the day. This particular concept was employed in the Eastgate Centre, Zimbabwe which uses 90 percent less energy than conventionally cooled buildings. 

Another great example involved shark skin and caused a big controversy at the 2008 Olympics. Designers were able to emulate how sharks reduce drag in the water and create swimsuits using the same principles. Unfortunately, these special suits are now banned from competitive swimming.

With so many examples of Bio-Mimicking, the world of natural innovation remains largely untapped. We have only really just scratched the surface. Taking design ques from nature is one thing but understanding how an eco-system operates and adapts could unlock some of natures more profound secrets. This deeper understanding of our eco-system could even drive new design methodologies and enable us to become sustainable beyond our current comprehension.

One thing is for sure, for those looking for inspiration, nature is a good place to start.