One of the pleasures of having a Facebook page is the chance to share interesting things that pop onto my radar. I run across things during my travels online, people send me links, and books and articles that I read elsewhere have links as well. But I’m quickly learning that Facebook itself is a great source of information and dialog about bio-inspiration, spiral geometries, […]
The Land Down Under
“I come from a land down under
Where beer does flow and men chunder
Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover.”
Down Under
Men at Work (Ronald Graham Strykert / Colin James Hay)
My wife, Francesca, snapped […]
Smarty Plants!
With the traditional human bias for things that are somehow “like us,” we tend to favor demonstrations of intelligence that reflect our own intellectual assets: gorillas that have mastered sign language; dolphins that can communicate; tool-using apes; pig IQ tests. And we see those less-animate things (like plants) as, well, dumb. (There’s even a plant called the dieffenbachia that’s nicknamed “dumb cane,” though […]
Paperback Writer …
Just a short update on the paperback release date, which is September 2014. I’m also looking at a few updates and revisions. Because biomimicry and bioinspired design is an emerging industry, there’s always a lot of new stuff coming to light. This paperback edition gives me the opportunity to add a few things. Truth is, I anticipate that every future […]
The Flight of the Bumblebee
Apparently, the folks over at Harvard University have decided that bees may indeed know a little something about flight. According to an article from the BBC, Dr. Sridhar Ravi and his research team are looking at how bees can maintain stable flight even in adverse weather conditions. I’ve always said that bees flight abilities and the way the […]
A wonderful year
2013 has been a truly amazing year with the publishing of a book I have long labored over. Like most authors, it felt like it was taking forever! I was genuinely surprised at how long it takes a book to travel from “idea” to “volume-in-hand,” but this was the year I held that very book.
The end of a year is a time to express […]
The economics of bio-inspired design
In November, I participated once again in a conference I’ve spoken at in the past, in the Fourth Annual Bioinspiration Conference, hosted by the San Diego Zoo. From the title of this year’s conference– Accelerating Development of Nature’s Solutions—it was clear that the conference was focused on the scientific and economic realities of developing […]
Natural curves
One of the things I appreciate so much about designing with natural geometries is the fact that not only is the end result more efficient—both in terms of the materials and energy usage—plus cleaner, and quieter, but it’s also invariably more beautiful. Nature’s curving geometries are graceful and elegant, very appealing to the eye. But then, perhaps those geometries so resonate with us because we […]
Seattle Town Hall and Bioneers
I have a busy week ahead of me—I’m speaking at Seattle’s Town Hall on “How Nature Inspires Innovation” and then giving a plenary at the 24th Annual National Bioneers Conference in Marin County. I’ve not been to Town Hall, but have been impressed by the caliber of speakers there. Certainly, if I […]
Amazing Cephalopods
My wife, Francesca sent me a link to this fascinating video about how certain cephalopods—squid, cuttlefish, and octopus, —employe camouflage. As a scuba diver and snorkeler, I knew a bit about this but admit was surprised at the extent of their abilities, particularly their use of pigments called chromatophores:
Most cephalopods possess chromatophores – that is, colored pigments – which they can use in a […]