Natural Architecture in Hawaii

As a recent transplant to Hawaii (I believe the term is “haole”) who has a deep appreciation of the richness and grace of this environment, I was pleased to read that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric […]

By |August 5th, 2013|Biomimicry in Action, Shark Bites|Comments Off on Natural Architecture in Hawaii

La Cucaracha

85 American cockroachClearly, the field of robotics is reaping the benefits of bio-inspiration. In some of my Facebook posts, we’ve seen robotic tunnel diggers and a moth in a robot driving a car. (Truly an unexpected use for robots …)

But here’s a video showing Harvard’s Ambulatory […]

By |July 29th, 2013|Biomimicry in Action, Insects, Shark Bites|Comments Off on La Cucaracha

The lowly water bear, the world’s safest house–and space

Across the bay from where I live in the Bay area is a strange structure, sometimes called “the world’s safest house.”  Designed by architect Eugene Tsui, this peculiar-looking and very sturdy […]

By |July 22nd, 2013|Animals, Biomimicry in Action, Shark Bites, Uncategorized|Comments Off on The lowly water bear, the world’s safest house–and space

Plant math with Vi Hart

More from Vi Hart on spirals, Phi, and how plants use math …

By |July 15th, 2013|Biomimicry in Action, Flowers and plants, Shark Bites|Comments Off on Plant math with Vi Hart

Congratulations, Sieta Beckwith!

Sieta Beckwith, currently living in Melbourne (but formerly from my hometown of Perth) provided this lovely spiral image and will receive a signed copy of The Shark’s Paintbrush as thanks!

When she posted it on Facebook, Sieta said,

This is a cactus-type plant that I saw […]

By |July 9th, 2013|Biomimicry in Action, Flowers and plants, Shark Bites|Comments Off on Congratulations, Sieta Beckwith!

More spiral fun from Vi Hart

Another of Mathematician Vi Hart’s pieces on spirals (and plants).  It’s clear from her video that Ms Hart would understand the young Jay Harman’s aversion to traditional classroom teaching!

By |July 1st, 2013|Biomimicry in Action, Flowers and plants, Shark Bites, Uncategorized|Comments Off on More spiral fun from Vi Hart

Want a signed copy of The Shark’s Paintbrush?

y now, I think we’ve well established the fact that I have had a live-long fascination with spiral geometries, in particular the equiangular spiral. So, now you can contribute to that fascination by sharing your original spiral photos!  Our favorite shots get a signed copy of The Shark’s Paintbrush, and I’ll highlight your photo on this site.

First, what do I […]

By |June 24th, 2013|Biomimicry in Action, Shark Bites|Comments Off on Want a signed copy of The Shark’s Paintbrush?

Thank you, Vi Hart!

Mathematician Vi Hart appears to share my fascination with spirals, and made this charming video to help others become just as interested as we both are!  Brainpickings calls this piece “doodletastic” and I quite agree — I am in favor of anyone who makes maths fun!

By |June 17th, 2013|Biomimicry in Action, Flowers and plants, Shark Bites|Comments Off on Thank you, Vi Hart!

More paint drops

Another nibble from the book  …

It was November 1985, and a pitch- black, steamy night in the Java Sea. En route to Singapore from Australia, our fifty- foot sailboat should have been lit up by at least the tricolor navigation light at the top of her mast. Instead, the night before we had been hit by lightning, which shorted out all the boat’s electrical systems. […]

By |June 3rd, 2013|Biomimicry in Action, Sea life, Shark Bites|Comments Off on More paint drops

Oooh, sticky!

Nature apparently admires adherence—I say this because there are so many different types of natural adhesives.  From gecko’s feet, and their use of van der Waals forces to attach themselves to walls and ceilings, to the amazing mussel adhesive proteins (or MAPs) that have fascinated scientists and led to the development of MAP adhesive products for scientific products, medical applications—even […]

By |May 28th, 2013|Animals, Biomimicry in Action, Shark Bites|Comments Off on Oooh, sticky!