prevent fracture
lesson plan
kingfisher
sense movement
water conservation
leaves
efficient routing
biomimicry videos
produce color
training
healthy soil
protect from floods
Life on earth presents elegant solutions to many of the challenges that designers and innovators face every day. Explore AskNature to find biological strategies, inspired ideas, and resources relative to your own innovation challenges, so you can begin to emulate the time-tested forms, processes, and systems that already thrive in balance with Earth’s complex systems.
Biological Strategies
Nature’s refined solutions, mapped to your design challenges.
Brushes clean off pollenBees
The basitarsal brushes of bees are used to clean the pollen off their faces while they forage.
Dufour’s Gland creates waterproof nest liningsBumblebees, A Cellophane Bee
The Dufour’s Gland of bees secretes a multitude of organic compounds like polyesters for nest building, triglycerides for food and hormones for communication.
Antennae detect a variety of signalsWestern Honeybee, Buff-tailed Bumblebee
The antennae of a bee allows it to sense a variety of signals including chemicals, light, vibrations, and electric fields.
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Inspired Ideas
Design solutions to human challenges, inspired by biological strategies.
Friction-reducing ship coatingFraunhofer CML
A superhydrophobic coating on the outside of ships reduces frictional resistance, allowing vessels to move more easily through the water.
eSkinJenny E. Sabin and Andrew Lucia (architecture), Cornell University; Shu Yang (materials science), Jan Van der Spiegel & Nader Engheta (electrical and systems engineering), Kaori Ihida-Stansbury, Peter Lloyd Jones (cell biology), University of Pennsylvania
Adaptive, sensory building skins
Swarm Logic technology reduces energy useEncycle
Wireless power controllers in Swarm Logic technology enable communication among building appliances to reduce peak electricity demand and costs.
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Resources
Everything you need to learn and teach about biomimicry and life centered design.
Re-thinking progress: The circular economyEllen MacArthur Foundation
This 4min video and companion lesson on TED-Ed explores the circular economy and how products can be 'made to be made again,' much like renewable natural systems.
Wild Buildings and Bridges: Architecture Inspired by NatureEtta Kaner and Carl Wiens
This book for kids age 8-12, celebrates examples of nature's influence on building and bridge designs all over the world and includes simple activities that help illustrate some concepts.
Inspired by NaturePBL Works
This project for 1st grade begins with the driving question "How can observing the natural world help us find solutions to human problems?"
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Collections
Themed clusters of strategies, ideas, and resources, curated by you.
Creatures of Sanibel Island
What can we learn from creatures that call Sanibel Island home?
Bees
A collection of morphological traits of bees, completed as part of a study about bio-inspired design at the University of Calgary.
Biomimicry for Kids
A sampling of our favorite resources for introducing biomimicry to the young people in our lives.
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How might we …
Here are a few Biological Strategies to get you started …
Photosynthesis converts solar energy into chemical energyplants
Photosynthesis in plants converts solar energy into chemical energy using electrons and protons from water.
Pupil enables clear vision in extreme light conditionsTokay Gecko, ,
The pupil of nocturnal geckos enables clear vision in extreme light conditions by becoming very large at night and constricting to a thin slit with several pinholes during the day.
Hairy legs manipulate sticky web strandsSpinybacked orbweaver, Golden Silk Orbweaver
Leg hairs of orb-weaver spiders enable sticky web manipulation by reducing contact area.
From permaculture to Velcro® to winglets, humans have been looking to nature for inspiration for as long as we’ve been inventing. Inspired Ideas catalog the stories behind realized and conceptual product, service, and system components that have their roots in biology …
The Land Institute permacultureThe Land Institute
Perennial grain cropping mimics natural ecosystem behavior.
Concentrated solar plantMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Optimal arrangement of solar array mirrors based on Fibonacci spirals.
Anti-icing coating prevents frost and ice buildupRykaczewski Research Group, Arizona State University
Coating infused with antifreeze reduces frost and ice accumulation
Interest in biomimicry has skyrocketed over the past decade, and there are now thousands of Resources—including books, articles, videos, lesson plans, groups, training programs, and more—available to folks who want to learn, teach, and practice this valuable problem solving approach. Get started with a few of our favorites here …
Sharing Biomimicry with Young PeopleBiomimicry Institute
An orientation to biomimicry for K-12 teachers and others who work with youth.
The world is poorly designed. But copying nature helps.Vox and 99% Invisible
This 6 minute video introduces biomimicry, the application of biomimicry at different scales, and connections to the circular economy.
Biomimicry Basics: How to Innovate Using Nature’s StrategiesDenise DeLuca
In this 4-hour online course you will learn a step by step method for turning nature's strategies into innovative design solutions using the biomimicry design spiral.
Collections tie together Biological Strategies, Inspired Ideas, and Resources into themes that are often correlated with a particular human challenge, geographic area, or set of environmental conditions. Check out a few of our favorites and then start your own …
Chemistry of Nature
How can we learn from nature to create materials without using life-threatening chemicals and high temperatures?
Solving for a changing climate
The science is clear, and so is our imperative. What can we learn from nature as we design solutions for mitigating, adapting to, and reversing climate change?
Cooling Down In The Heat
From sweating, to panting, to pulling water from air, living systems rely on a number of forms and processes to stay cool and hydrated.
“Nature is constantly innovating, endlessly experimenting and ever reinventing itself in the face of new challenges.
From materials and products to business models, biomimicry offers a fresh lens for all the dreamers and doers remaking the man-made world.”
Angela Nahikian, Steelcase
