In the News



Catch the latest in-roads in bio-inspired products and development.




flyfoot

The 2006 International Symposium for
Biologically Inspired Design in Science and Engineering



An amazing international gathering of scientists and engineers
in the Spring of 2006
at Georgia Tech revealed fascinating research
projects from the bio-design for aquatic propulsion, to the homeostasis
of termite mounds, to the biomimetic fibers of orb-weaving spiders.


download abstracts PDF

Department of Energy
EERE Solar Decathlon Team 2007


Home-O-stasis: Dynamic Equilibriums in Solar Homes of the Southeast



Headed by project managers Chris Jarrett, Ruchi Choudhary and Franca Trubiano, the latest advances in building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) will be integrated within the design of an innovative low energy house exhibiting the highest level of excellence in architectural design, construction and comfort. Building on shared research interests in ecological principles of design, building design performance, and materials research, the program managers will coordinate the interdisciplinary team with the goal of achieving substantial innovation in the research and development of solar energy housing, its technology, implementation and testing.

Project Managers:
Ruchi Choudhary (BEET & Building Performance Lab): Franca Trubiano )BEET & Design Materials Lab & Studio): Chris Jarrett (BEET & Ecological Design Studio) Faculty Advisors: Architecture: Fried Augenbroe (Building Technology): Russell Gentry )Structural, AWPL) Engineering: Ian Ferguson ( Elect. SSL Lab) Ajeet Rohatgi )UCEP, Photovoltaic Lab) Biology: Jeannette Yen (CBID) Marc Weissburg (CBID) Sustainable Technologies, Policy and Education: Carol Carmichael )ISTD) Fundraising /Marketing: Susie Briggs (ISTD) Student Leaders: Jason Brown, Huafen Hu, Phd Program


Engineers discover why toucan beaks are models of lightweight strength Marc A. Meyers, a materials scientist and professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at UCSD's Jacobs School of Engineering, and graduate students Yasuaki Seki and Matthew S. Schneider reported that the secret to the toucan beak's lightweight strength is an unusual bio-composite. The interior of the beak is rigid "foam" made of bony fibers and drum-like membranes sandwiched between outer layers of keratin, the protein that makes up fingernails, hair, and horn.

mussel

Natural adhesive systems of marine mussels, Mytilus edulis
This illustration shows the Atlantic Blue Mussell, Mytilus edulis, and its adhesive structure–the byssus with byssal threads and byssal plaque–and includes a closer look at the byssal thread and plaque and the individual adhesive proteins with respect to a substrate surface.




B12

Chemists are increasingly looking to Nature as a source of inspiration
The use of naturally sourced molecules in synthetic organic chemistry can provide significant benefits, either as shortcuts to complex chemical structures or to catalyse chemical reactions towards a desired end-result. One such biomolecule, vitamin B12, has a number of useful functions.



silk repair image silk spider

Silk may be able to help repair damaged nerves
"The picture shows two things: reddish coloured processors, which are the nerve fibres growing along the silk; and blue supporting cells, called Schwann cells, which are very important in supporting nerve regeneration." John Priestly, a neuroscientist from Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry, London



firebeetle

Forest fire sensor inspired by nature
Bonn zoologists "copy" a beetle's monitoring device
Jewel beetles can "smell" the products of a fire

owl kingfisher montage

"Shinkansen Technology Learned from an Owl?"The story of Eiji Nakatsu
Japan for Sustainability newsletter, Biomimicry Interview series, the owl and the kingfisher
learn more

jelly

Biomechanics and Hydrodynamics of jet-propelled swimming in jellyfish
Professor William Megill is a Lecturer (Asst Prof) in Biomimetics at the University of Bath, England. His PhD was in Biomechanics at the University of British Columbia. He has been working with marine mammals since 1990, interested first in dolphin and killer whale acoustics before turning to baleen whale ecology and now to physiology. He studied the ecology of blue, fin and humpback whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence for several years, then moved to the west coast to study biomechanics.






lobsterscope

The Lobster All-Sky X-ray Monitor:
The lobster is the inspiration for a new type of European X-ray telescope. The observatory is designed to have an extremely wide field of view - just as the crustacean manages with its vision. The animal achieves this using a huge array of tiny channels that focus light by reflection, rather than by bending it through lenses found in human eyes. A UK-led team is now building a similar set-up for a telescope that will sweep the sky for sudden, violent events, such as black holes swallowing stars.

image:Lobster All-Sky X-ray Monitor

cicada

Cicada Escape Response and MEMS
Escape orientation in arthropods is a highly stereotyped, quick and precise behavior based on a proper recognition of stimuli announcing imminent danger from a predator attack. The escape behavior is triggered by physical stimuli which need to be detected (air-flow, pressure, sound, vibrations, mechanical forces,…), locally amplified and filtered by specialized sense organs, transmitted, processed and integrated into a perception pattern which will control response.




fruit fly fruit fly diagram

The Control of Aerodynamic Maneuvers in Fruit Flies
Dickinson, M., California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Fruit flies alter flight direction by generating rapid, stereotyped turns, called saccades. The successful implementation of these quick turns requires a well-tuned orchestration of neural circuits, musculo-skeletal mechanics, and aerodynamic forces. The changes in wing motion required to accomplish a saccade are quite subtle, as dictated by the inertial dynamics of the fly's body. A fly first generates torque to begin accelerating in the intended direction, but then must quickly create counter-torque to decelerate. Several lines of evidence suggest that the initial turn is initiated by visual expansion, whereas the subsequent counter-turn is triggered by the gyroscopic halteres. This integrated analysis indicates how the functional organization of neural circuits controlling behavior is rigidly constrained by the physical interaction between an animal and the external world. Also, related articles (at least 100).








Median fin function in bluegill sunfish Lepomis macrochirus- streamwise vortex structure during steady swimming Eric D. Tytell: Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University



robot 1 snail

MIT's RoboSnails model novel movements
The humble snail, trailed by its ribbon of slime, now has its first robotic counterpart in research at MIT that could lead to new forms of locomotion for future machines.

  MIT article | learn more
keretin

Richard Bonser and keratin properties Feather keratin occurs in a 'b-sheet' configuration which is differs from the a-helices that occur in mammalian keratins. If mammalian keratins are stretched in steam, then they develop a b-sheet configuration, so imagining a very stretched spring gives one some idea of the form of avian keratin.


learn more | PDF


frog

'Frog's glue' could mend knees
"We assumed the substance would be toxic, but when we found it wasn't, it made sense to explore it as a medical adhesive" said environmental biologist Mike Tyler. When set, it was flexible and had a porous structure that should make it permeable to gas and nutrients, which would encourage healing.


blue crab

Blue Crab Nano-Sensor Detects Dangers
A substance found in crab shells is the key component in a nanoscale sensor system developed by researchers at the University of Maryland's A. James Clark School of Engineering. The sensor can detect minute quantities of explosives, bioagents, chemicals, and other dangerous materials in air and water, potentially leading to security and safety innovations for airports, hospitals, and other public locations.


squirrel

Jumping Robots: inspiration from kangaroos, locusts, grasshoppers, chameleons (tongue), flying squirrels Biomimeticists are looking at how to incorporate flying and jumping. Among them is Keith Paskins of the University of Bath, who is trying to mimic flying squirrels. The squirrels have floppy skin attached to their wrists and ankles, which they can stretch out to make a gliding surface. The animals also appear to be able to control their gliding through rapid movements while in the air.

  PDF

The relationship between 3-D kinematics and gliding performance in the southern flying squirrel, Glaucomys volans. Kristin L. BishopDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University


fish image

Like a Fish - Revolutionary Underwater Breathing System An artificial system that will mimic the way fish use the air in the water thus allowing both smaller submarines and divers to get rid of the large, cumbersome compressed air tanks.


learn more
abalone abalone2

The mother of pearl growth surface of abalone shell is colored due to the way light refracts as it strikes tiny ridges of calcium carbonate.


learn more



biomimicry defined
inspire

Comparative Biomechanics - Life's Physical World


by Stephen Vogel

Comparative Biomechanics

"I tried skim-reading Steven Vogel's Comparative Biomechanics . . . but was compromised: the volume has so many little gems scattered throughout that my eye got caught by the glitter and couldn't escape."
Julian F. V. Vincent, Science



human plus nature

The real bottom line is the biological bottom line. We are animals who live within the exquisite confines of the air, water and land where life exists. It's the biosphere that is the source of everything that matters to us.


David Suzuki
ga tech logo

CBID is an interdisciplinary center for research and development of design solutions that occur in biological processes. Founded in 2005, It is one of more than 100 interdisciplinary research units funded at Georgia Institute of Technology