
How does nature ...
produce color?
Humanity faces many challenges. Nature holds solutions. Use the search function in the upper right of this page, or explore featured content below to discover examples of how we can learn from other species' successful strategies and adaptations.
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Nature is more than the sum of its parts. Explore the connections between individual biological strategies, innovations, or educational resources as leading thinkers, scientists, artists, and others reflect on unifying themes in biomimicry.

How Does Nature
Deal With Stress?
When we feel our stress response coming on, we could rethink of it as an ancient call from the natural world to reconnect.Tierney Thys, Biologist and Science Educator
We're not the first species to face stress. See what we can learn from our neighbors.
For Educators
The world of the future will be designed by the students of today. AskNature has tools to help educators bring biomimicry into the classroom for a single day or for a whole school year.

Biological Strategy Printables
Biomimicry Institute
If you need an offline version of AskNature's content, these pages have you covered.

Introducing Biomimicry in High School
Biomimicry Institute
This collection of activities provides a high school level introduction to the concept of biomimicry, along with instruction to support student use of the resources on the AskNature website to apply biomimicry to any design challenge.

Biomimicry: Nature as Model, Measure, and Mentor
Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education
In this three-part lesson students explore what nature can teach us about the principles of sustainable design and reflect on applications to a problem in their home, school, or community.

Keeping It Clean
Biomimicry Institute
Explore resources for teaching about superhydrophobicity and nanotechnology using the story of how super water‑repellent lotus leaves inspired self‑cleaning surface coatings.

AskNature Scavenger Hunt
Biomimicry Institute
Get familiar with how to use the AskNature website by exploring what it has to offer.
Biological Strategies
We've curated more than 1700 strategies of living things that can serve as inspiration for human innovation. Whatever challenge you're looking to address, nature can serve as your model, measure, and mentor.
Innovations
AskNature’s innovation database makes it easy to explore hundreds of products and design solutions inspired by nature's genius and the workings of living organisms.
Trees
Bats
Protect From Temperature
Many living systems function best within specific temperature ranges. Temperatures higher or lower than that range can negatively impact a living system’s physiological or chemical processes, and damage its exterior or interior. Living systems must manage high or low temperatures using minimal energy, which often requires controlling responses along incremental temperature changes. To do so, living systems use a variety of strategies, such as avoiding high or low temperatures, removing excess heat, and holding heat in. Insulation is a well-known example of managing low temperatures by retaining heat using thick layers of hair, fur, or feathers to hold warm air next to the skin.
Most Popular Pages for January 2023
With over 1700 biological strategies cultivated on AskNature, there are dozens of somethings for anyone. But time has shown that at any given time, a few things seem to be the right thing for everyone. Explore some of our most popular pages now.