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.
Larval hooks hold on tightGlass Wing
Hooks and silk of butterfly larvae form a strong attachment under leaves
Spider web is strong and elasticSpiders
Webs of orb spiders are elastic and strong because of sacrificial bonds that break and then reform
Spliced collagen anchors teethMammals
Teeth of mammals anchored by spliced collagen fibres
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Inspired Ideas
Design solutions to human challenges, inspired by biological strategies.
New type of springWyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University.
Twistless spring with tunable mechanical response
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.
FLOWE wind farm designThe Caltech Field Laboratory for Optimized Wind Energy
Wind farm spatial design increases efficiency
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Resources
Everything you need to learn and teach about biomimicry and life centered design.
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.
Evogeneao Tree of LifeEvogeneao.com
Graphics, video, and other resources for teaching about evolution and how all life on Earth is related.
Patching a Broken HeartAmerican Museum of Natural History
Biomedical engineer Jeffrey Karp shares how scientists are drawing inspiration from nature to solve medical problems in new and exciting ways.
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Collections
Themed clusters of strategies, ideas, and resources, curated by you.
Garden of Secrets
FIRST LEGO League – Animal Allies
A collection of resources and inspiring strategies for teams working on the 2016-17 Animal Allies challenge.
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
