Scientists estimate that there could be up to a trillion species on Earth today! Though most are microbes, it’s an astounding amount of Life. But consider this: together, we represent less than 1 percent of all the species that have ever lived since Life first appeared on Earth 3.8 billion years ago. So where did all this diversity come from? It starts with the fact that nature loves to design and innovate. Nature has been conducting R&D for 3.8 billion years, and amongst a wide collection of successful and repeated strategies, nucleated cells is a big winner. We’re celebrating the “birthday” of nucleated cells this week as a part of our year-long Happy Birthday Life celebration. In March, we told you about the day photosynthesis appeared. And, we told you about how Life first appeared on Earth in the form of a single-celled organism on February 25. That’s according to Earth’s calendar year calculations, which compress the age of Earth (4.5...Read More >
Read More
Posted in Innovation Insights, Inspired by Nature on July 10, 2016 by jenna
Our latest Biomimicry Thinking for Social Innovation immersion workshop wrapped up last week in The Netherlands, where participants gathered with Dr. Dayna Baumeister, Biomimicry 3.8 Co-founder, and Toby Herzlich, founder of Biomimicry for Social Innovation, in De Spreeuwelse Heide, near Eindhoven in Westelbeers, for five days of exploration of the fusion of biomimicry and social innovation. The workshop took the crew through sand dunes, moors, and woodlands in the Netherlands as they learned to apply design lessons from nature to help grow resilient organizations and foster a regenerative society abundant with innovative leaders. It made for a “mind-blowing” workshop, participant Leen Gorissen said on Twitter. We got to live vicariously through the crew thanks to social media, which provided a snapshot of the experience (and the views). Here’s a sampling of the shares: Finally, a Facebook post from Karen de Moss, who showed off her completion certificate, noting that “We made it!” Learn more about our immersion workshop, biomimicry, and Biomimicry 3.8, connect with us...Read More >
Read More
Posted in Innovation Insights, Inspired by Nature on July 1, 2016 by jenna
Scrolling through the Synapse by Biomimicry 3.8 newsfeed raises more than a few interesting questions: Can sunflowers save the bees? How does slime mold “decide” how to move toward food? What if we designed trusses like dragonfly wings? What kind of engineering tips can we get from a killer trapdoor plant? That’s one of the great things about biomimicry; you never know what kind of thought-provoking design inspiration might be found when you look to nature for answers. We recently hit a milestone on our new Synapse by Biomimicry 3.8 newsfeed when we published our 100th post, each of which includes expert commentary on recent biomimicry news articles, papers, and innovations. The newsfeed provides a daily does of biomimicry news in the form of commentary from our experts, including Janine Benyus and Dr. Dayna Baumeister. Reaching the 100-post mark means we’ve compiled a tidy, scrollable list of 100 nature-inspired ways to spark new ideas on how to use nature’s genius to...Read More >
Read More
Posted in Featured, Innovation Insights on June 23, 2016 by jenna
Whether you’re an engineer fascinated by the concept of being able to emulate the designs created by nature during 3.8 billion years of evolution, or a lover of the outdoors looking to reconnect with the natural world and apply its wisdom to your career, biomimicry–by default or by design–puts people in touch with nature. “Biomimicry is all about emulating life’s genius. It’s learning from nature….That begs the question: what is nature? What does it look like and how can we wrap our mind and arms around the notion of nature? From there, you ask, ‘what is my personal connection with nature?’ “said Thomas Baumeister, an instructor for the Master’s of Science in Biomimicry at Arizona State University. Biomimicry 3.8 and ASU partnered in 2014 to begin offering the world’s first accredited master’s degree program for biomimicry, and to create the Biomimicry Center. Baumeister’s 517 class explores the human-nature connection, allowing students to dig deep into the concepts of how they...Read More >
Read More
Posted in Inspired by Nature on June 16, 2016 by jenna
We’re heading into the redwood forest outside San Francisco to explore the answer to that question–for a bit at least–during the first of our new training offerings: A three-day training specifically focused on biomimicry design for the built environment. Registration is now open for Inspired by Nature Training: Biomimicry for the Built Environment, which will be held at the HOK office in San Francisco’s Financial District November 2-4. Along with learning in the HOK offices, we’ll head to the California Academy of Sciences and the redwood forest. That’ll give participants a chance to explore nature’s design lessons and experiential play with lessons from local habitats. Then, they can take those lessons back and apply them to their own ecologies and project types. Applying biomimicry design to the built environment can inspire thinking that can help achieve resilient, sustainable design by accessing nature’s proven strategies and design successes defined through 3.8 billion years of evolutionary R&D. It can be applied by architects, planners, designers, design teams,...Read More >
Read More
Posted in Biomimicry in Action on June 9, 2016 by jenna
Sustainable Brands will hold it’s annual conference in San Diego next week, focusing the four days of events on sustainably-led innovation that creates scalable impact and profitability. No doubt that achieving that kind of innovation requires strong leadership. And while design innovations inspired by nature are inherently life-friendly (we always like to say there are no landfills in nature), nature also has much to teach us about effective leadership. That’s the idea Janine Benyus is bringing to Sustainable Brands this year. She’ll take the main stage on Tuesday, June 7, to explain what nature can teach executives about effective, purpose-driven leadership. Janine talked biomimicry and it’s array of innovation inspirations when it comes to combatting things like climate change, contributing to a clean 3D printing revolution, and about the best ways organizations of any kind can integrate biomimicry into their innovation process with Sustainable Brands editor Jen Elks in advance of the conference. In the article, she explained the increased interest...Read More >
Read More
Posted in Biomimicry in Action, Innovation Insights on June 1, 2016 by jenna
A typical “meet up” of Master’s of Science in Biomimicry students includes video chats and virtual coursework assignments as they work toward their degrees. But during the Spring Flock at Rancho Robles in Arizona in May, students gathered in-person, where they met their classmates and the faculty and worked together on learning exercises in the Sonoran Desert. It was an optional, low-cost gathering organized by Dr. Dayna Baumeister, The Biomimicry Center co-director and professor of practice at ASU. “There was lots of fun and laughter,” Baumeister said. “We put faces to names and had great dialogue.” Biomimicry 3.8 and ASU partnered in 2015 to begin offering the world’s first accredited master’s degree program for biomimicry. The Biomimicry Center at ASU helps facilitate biomimicry education and research. The program graduated its first group of MS students in the Fall of 2015. Learn more about the programs here The Spring Flock was Baumeister’s idea. It was open to all students enrolled in...Read More >
Read More
Posted in Biomimicry in Action on May 26, 2016 by jenna
Janine has presented two TED talks, one in 2009 and one in 2005. Together, they have been viewed nearly 2.5 million times. Here are links to both of Janine’s TedTalks: Biomimicry in action Biomimicry’s surprising lessons from nature’s engineers Janine joined TED Radio Hour host Guy Raz this week on the NPR program that is all about fascinating ideas. The topic? Design as a hidden force that shapes our lives. “Design is all around us,” the show’s description says, “but much of it could be better, bolder, more elegant.” Enter Janine, who discusses what designers can learn from nature. Take a listen to the show, which aired Friday. Listen to the full show here. Listen to Janine’s portion here. Ted Radio Hour draws from TEDTalks, bringing together a set of TED presenters to expand on their fascinating ideas. It is hosted by Guy Raz and airs each Friday. Learn more about biomimicry and Biomimicry 3.8, connect with us on Facebook, Twitter (follow @Biomimicry38)...Read More >
Read More
Posted in Innovation Insights on May 20, 2016 by jenna
We’ve always found profound inspiration from the innovation ah-has our clients find as we guide them through the process of engaging biomimicry—whether it’s when we’re helping an international cosmetics company learn packaging lessons from poppy flowers and beetle wings or sharing Life’s Principles as a way to help growing companies thrive. It’s those kind of experiences that nourish our company’s work. And it’s in that spirit that we’ve created a new service, Synapse by Biomimicry 3.8. We’re excited to be introducing this week a preview of Synapse, which is designed to help more people discover the power of biomimicry. Synapse by Biomimicry 3.8 is a new, membership-based service that delivers syndicated research and advisory services created by the world’s foremost biomimicry thought leaders at Synapse.bio, the website we created for the service. This week we’re debuting the Synapse newsfeed, which is live now at Synapse.bio and includes biomimicry news highlights chosen by members of our team at Biomimicry 3.8. The...Read More >
Read More
Posted in Innovation Insights, Newsworthy on May 11, 2016 by jenna
You may have heard the we’re headed to Australia in September for an immersion workshop, another five-day experience that helps participants discover nature’s genius while learning in the field. This workshop will take place in a particularly amazing spot: At the intersection of the Great Barrier Reef and the oldest living tropical rainforest. What kind of nature’s genius inspiration can be found there? We’ve compiled a small set of the amazing examples below. We’ll share more too in the coming weeks. In fact, the local experts we’ve recruited to help run the workshop are gearing up to share their Top 10 must-see organisms. Stay tuned for that. In the meantime, take a look at these Inspiration from Australia cards for a glimpse of what participants will learn during the workshop: It’s among these organisms that participants will begin honing and developing the skills to tap into nature’s genius while inspiring new innovations. Learn more about biomimicry and Biomimicry 3.8, connect with...Read More >
Read More
Posted in Inspired by Nature on May 5, 2016 by jenna