What is Biomimicry? Learning from Evolutionary R&D
Written by Ronan Carvill
Humans, since time immemorial, have looked to nature for ideas and inspiration. Indeed, many of our greatest technological innovations have come from learning and emulating how nature does things. Millions of years of evolutionary research and development tend to produce decent designs! A famous example is the invention of powered flight by the Wright brothers, who used the curved profile of a bird’s wing to help design the wings of their plane to produce lift.
Closer to home, the Namib Desert beetle, which survives in one of the driest places on earth by ‘harvesting’ water from the morning fog with its shell, has inspired engineers to design water harvesting structures. The internal design of African termite mounds has similarly been used to help architects create passive cooling systems that use 90% less energy for climate control.
Nature is a great teacher if we learn to listen to it and observe its designs. The practice of emulating nature’s time-tested designs and strategies to solve human challenges is called biomimicry. The term is derived from the Greek words bios, meaning “life,” and mimesis, meaning “to imitate.”
The Three Main Categories of Biomimicry
There are three main categories of biomimicry:
- Form biomimicry – copying nature’s structural designs.
- Process biomimicry – emulating how nature behaves and makes things (biochemically).
- System biomimicry – replicating the function and dynamics of effective natural systems.
There are also two major ways of using biomimicry that can be useful for beginners seeking inspiration from nature. The first, and most direct, is to see a human challenge and ask: “How would nature solve this problem?” This involves looking carefully at the issue and searching for instances where nature has faced a similar challenge.
Two Ways Beginners Can Apply Nature-Inspired Innovation
There are also two major ways of using biomimicry that can be useful for beginners seeking inspiration from nature. The first, and most direct, is to see a human challenge and ask: “How would nature solve this problem?” This involves looking carefully at the issue and searching for instances where nature has faced a similar challenge.
1. Solving a Human Challenge: The Kingfisher Shinkansen Train
A famous example is that of a senior Japanese engineer tasked with designing high‑speed trains. He faced a problem: when trains passed through tunnels, they pushed a compressed wave of air ahead of them, causing a sonic boom at the tunnel exit. This was disruptive to nearby residents and was energy intensive. While sitting by a river, he observed a kingfisher diving into the water to catch fish without a splash. Inspired, he redesigned the train’s nose to resemble a kingfisher’s beak — and the problem was solved!
2. Observing a Natural Phenomenon: How Burdock Seeds Inspired Velcro
The second way is to observe an interesting phenomenon or design in nature and ask: ‘How can this be used to solve a human problem?’ A famous example is the Swiss engineer George de Mestral, who noticed burdock seeds stuck to his dog’s fur after a hike. Closer observation under a microscope revealed that the burrs were covered in tiny, stiff hooks that caught onto loops of hair or fabric. Inspired by this, he designed a ‘hook‑and‑loop’ attachment system, now commonly called Velcro, which is used in a wide variety of applications, including by NASA in zero gravity environments.
Applying Biomimicry at SAWC: Protecting Trees from Elephants
I myself am trying to develop a biomimicry based method to protect individual trees from elephant damage. You may have heard of using beehives hung on trees, chilli powder, wire wrapping, or cement pyramids to protect trees from elephants. I am asking the question: ‘What kind of defence or structure would a tree evolve to protect itself from elephant damage?’ I have developed one interesting and seemingly effective method — but I will keep that to myself for now!
So next time you see an interesting natural phenomenon or face a difficult problem, think about how nature can help solve your challenges through biomimicry.