The natural world has inspired our human-made one since humanity first began. Look! Up there! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No – it’s biomimicry…
The plane’s blueprint was designed based on the flighty nature of birds. Sharkskin inspired wetsuits, burrs evoked the invention of Velcro. Architecture worldwide pays homage to the structures we find in nature; spiderwebs, Earthmites, fruits, flowers and fish.
Even Isaac Newton has to share credit with the apple that smacked him on the head.
Published:
09.01.2025
Writer:
Emily Wilcox
AirCarbon – USA
“With nature, rather than against it.” That’s Newlight’s motivation behind AirCarbon, a means of producing foodware products that are compostable, sustainable and environmentally beneficial.
A carbon-negative process; more CO2 is captured and destroyed with AirCarbon than initially used in its creation – this is circular recycling at its finest. Made from PHB – a biomaterial produced naturally by almost all life on Earth – AirCarbon is a malleable carbon storage material, able to be melted into a vast array of products; sheets, fibres, solid parts.
It harnesses nature, to help nature. What a breath of fresh carbonated air.
Tubebarrier – Netherlands
Sometimes we inspire nature too, as it takes on particularly human qualities. Like the weather; it has moods. Mother Nature doesn’t just cry, she floods.
Which is why Tubebarrier was invented. Using innovative flood defence technology, the Tubebarrier provides preventative measures for flooding and water damage.
With a single tube being 100 metres in length, installed in an hour, they act as a defensive wall, more effective than sandbags and less time consuming and costly. Suitable for any surface, for homeowners, industry workers and in critical locations, alike.
For the times when nature isn’t always on our side – at least now it’s the other side of the Tubebarrier.
Sea Wave Energy Ltd (Swel) – Cyprus and the UK
The Wave Line Magnet is draped along the sea’s surface to become the world’s most efficient, low cost means of converting wave energy, crafted from climate change intelligence with sustainable energy at its core.
Visually, it appears as if an oversized strip of tagliatelle went for a swim, but technologically, it’s a masterpiece machine, embracing the very nature of the sea.
All component parts link together via a spine power system which allows the wave to pass beneath it, generating power as the Waveline Magnet rises and falls.
Vortex Bladeless – Spain
Vortex wind power turbines are a revolutionary solution to energy conversion that is low maintenance, harmless to surrounding wildlife and can easily be slotted into urban areas.
Vortex prides itself on being bladeless, safe, quiet and green wind power, with a cylindrical device anchored to the ground at the base, rising up to form a core, an alternating tuning system and a mast that is free to oscillate perpendicular to the wind.
When the wind passes around it, it generates vortexes of pressure, and as the machine oscillates, energy is harnessed and converted into electricity.
But to put it simply: wind blows the stick, the stick wobbles, it powers our homes. And that’s science.
Dr Ehab Sayed, Founder and Chief Evolution Officer at BIOHM (image courtesy of BIOHM website)
Biohm – UK
Biohm is an award-winning research and development company, fronted by nature and culture.
Based on refining rather than designing, they take what nature has provided – mycelium from mushrooms, food and agricultural waste, carbon’s molecular bonds, for example – and convert it into revolutionary creations, able to break plastics into sugars, become robust and high-quality structures, produce functional high-performance products and deliver high-impact solutions, limitless and regenerative and with the world’s welfare in mind.
AskNature – USA
Self-proclaimed as a portal to the wisdom nature holds, AskNature is what Google would be if it sourced its information from Mother Nature herself.
Designed by The Biomimicry Institute, the site works best for those seeking inspiration for human innovation. Operating like as a search engine with suggested keywords like “regulate climate” and “conserve water,” AskNature provides a list of strategies that best lean into your question, from their curated database of over 1,700 specific ways that nature has prevailed, as well as examples of biomimicry successfully implemented in various projects.
After all, Mother (Nature) knows best.
Seprify – Switzerland
Seprify is a creator of functional, high-performance ingredients produced from renewable resources, such as cellulose particles.
Manufacturing a variety of materials – pigments, opacifiers, emulsifiers, texturisers, fillers and more – Seprify uses nature’s most abundant biopolymer; cellulose.
This is safe, inexpensive and sustainable to retrieve, creating an array of non-toxic, bio-based products that can be used for paints, pet foods, inks, nutrition, you name it.
The future is bright – and it’s coloured the shade of sustainability.
WindWings® – UK
As BAR Technologies will tell you, “wind is the free fuel”.
That’s why WindWings® was created; a three-element wing design that operates similar to aeroplane wings – using wind-assisted propulsion – designed to maximise thrust of marine vessels.
When installed onto the deck, they enhance performance, reduce fuel consumption and adapt its geometry to suit the wind conditions at that time. This aerodynamic addition to ships promotes positive environmental, social and economic impact within the marine industry.
Thar she blows (she, being Mother Nature)!
bartechnologies.uk/commercial-ships/windwings
(Lead article image courtesy of the BAR Technologies website.)
