Nature

Biomimicry studies nature to solve some of the problems humans face today.

Janine Benyus' TED presentation on Biomicry challenges us to "re-think nature" she said to try to imagine spring if spring never existed. This is incredibly complex and thought provoking but insanely frustrating. I really can't imagine trying to design nature because it is so beyond my thought capability. I realized, as a result of this notion, that we really do design almost every basic thing on what is found in nature. An example of this that I remember from class was the Nokia Morph phone that we studied back in October. The Morph cell phone could withstand virtually every natural and unnatural element. Like a duck with feathers, it beads up water and expels it off of the surface of the phone. Like a fly, it has thousands of transistors on it's skin. It is almost like technology is beginning to come full circle and not be the antithesis of nature like it often is. So many times, technology strives to be better than anything that has ever existed, including nature. It is the StarTrek mentality. That something out of this world and shiny and metal is the way to go. I know that this might seem like tangent but I Janine's account of nature as the sole design from which we should learn and base our own designs sparked my thoughts. It also makes me think about how we are all so vulnerable and weak sometimes. People are praised for technologies that can actually be harmful to us in the long run. The cell phone, while it makes life easier and planning ahead less difficult, it has really affected our interpersonal communication. This video was just pretty eye opening and very humbling. I think that all of the tech moguls should watch this!

I have included a video of the prototype of the Nokia 888, kind of like the morph but does not seem to have all of the biomimicry elements that the morph has. Here it is (I cannot seem to format it to play right here in the sourcebook):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G32JmZkRddc&feature=related