Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • NPR

    Artist's Exhibit Borrows Human Tech To Solve Nature's Manmade Problems

    Artist and philosopher Jonathon Keats didn't need to create anything new to show the absurdity of human problem-solving. All he had to do was give human technology to animals.
    by Miles Parks Mar 31, 2017 2 minutes
    In an exhibit at the Samek Art Museum, artist Jonathon Keats explores what the world would look like if animals and plants got to use human innovation for their own benefit. Here, flowers use "botanical sex toys" to simulate bee pollination. "What got me thinking was the fact that (artificial pollination) didn't seem like much fun for the plants," Keats says.

    Humans have long looked to animals for design inspiration. From basic camouflage to a quiet bullet train in Japan to the Wright brothers' wings, the process called biomimicry is a basic tenet of human engineering.

    Jonathon Keats has turned it on its head.

    The artist and, at the Samek Art Museum at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, is a thought experiment on the selfish ways we humans innovate.

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from NPR

    NPR2 min read
    Tesla Recalls Cybertruck Over Sticky Problem. Blame It On — Yes — Soap
    Accelerator pedals on the new Cybertrucks can get stuck, a potentially dangerous production flaw. The reason why they're so sticky is soap.
    NPR1 min read
    Amsterdam Was Flooded With Tourists In 2023, So It Won't Allow Any More Hotels
    Twenty-six hotels that already have permits can move forward, but after that a hotel can only be built if one shuts down. Tourists spent about 20.7 million nights in Amsterdam hotels last year.
    NPR3 min readDiet & Nutrition
    What World War II Taught Us About How To Help Starving People Today
    The modern study of the starvation was sparked by the liberation of concentration camp survivors. U.S. and British soldiers rushed to feed them — and yet they sometimes perished.

    Related Books & Audiobooks