I recently watched a TedTalk titled From Spider Webs to Elevators: Leveraging Biomimicry. I had never heard of biomimicry before, but after watching this talk, I am intrigued by the idea.
Biomimicry is the act of recreating and using natural world phenomena to solve complex industrial design problems. Although we tend to overlook them, God created many processes and functions that work seamlessly that could be used to solve our problems. A lot of times, designers and scientists work to create new ideas and fail to realize that the answers to their dilemmas could be right in front of them.
Biomimicry is not an old idea. The term was coined by Dr. Janine Benyus in 1982. Since then, the idea has become increasingly popular leading to many new nature-inspired designs. One being Rene Polin and Daphne Fecheyr’s elevator solution. After observing the features of a spider web, Fecheyr was intrigued by how spider webs transport prey. The silk thread is under constant tension. Therefore, once the spider hits the silk, the prey is quickly pulled up into the main part of the spider web. This led her and her team to create an elevator using this design principle: “Motion created by wires that retains stored energy and releases only at a desired time.” Using biomimicry, Polin and Fecheyr were able to create a low-cost, energy efficient elevator.
God, the ultimate designer, provided us with numerous design solutions. We simply need to be attentive when observing our environment. Many solutions have been created using biomimicry; however, there are still many processes to be used. Biomimicry can positively influence our world.
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