Everyone is trying to jump on the biomimic bandwagon. But a cork floor is not biomimicry. Neither is using bacteria to clean water.
Janine BenyusRead
Biologically inspired materials could revolutionize materials science. People looking at spider silk and abalone shells are looking for new ways to make materials better, cheaper, and with less toxic byproducts.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Biologically inspired materials have the potential to transform materials science by utilizing nature's designs.
The quote by Janine Benyus emphasizes the idea that nature offers valuable insights for developing new materials. By studying natural substances like spider silk and abalone shells, scientists can create innovative materials that are not only superior in performance but also environmentally friendly, highlighting the importance of biomimicry in advancing technology and sustainability.
Themes
BiomimicryMaterials ScienceSustainabilityInnovationNature
In practice
Example use cases
In a presentation about sustainable engineering, I quoted Janine Benyus to highlight the importance of learning from nature.
More from Janine Benyus
All quotes βFor a long time we have thought we were better than the living world, and now some of us tend to think we are worse, that everything we touch turns to soot. But neither perspective is healthy. We have to remember how it feels to have equal standing in the world, to be "between the mountain and the ant . . . part and parcel of creations," as the Iroquois traditionalist Oren Lyons says.
Janine BenyusRead
The truth is, natural organisms have managed to do everything we want to do without guzzling fossil fuels, polluting the planet or mortgaging the future.
Janine BenyusRead
Biomimicry is basically taking a design challenge and then finding an ecosystem that's already solved that challenge, and literally trying to emulate what you learn.
Janine BenyusRead
Biomimicry is innovation inspired by nature. In a society accustomed to dominating or 'improving' nature, this respectful imitation is a radically new approach, a revolution really. Unlike the Industrial Revolution, the Biomimicry Revolution introduces an era based not on what we can extract from nature, but on what we can learn from her.
Janine BenyusRead
The most irrevocable of [natures] laws says that a species cannot occupy a niche that appropriates all resources--there has to be some sharing. Any species that ignores this law winds up destroying its community to support its own expansion.
Janine BenyusRead
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