Reykjavk University

Biomimicry
New Technology

3/10/2011

Ptur rn Arnarson

Contents
Executive summary .................................................................................................................... 3
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 4
Main section ............................................................................................................................... 6
The Creator ............................................................................................................................. 6
Examples of Biomimicry: ....................................................................................................... 7
Transportation: Learning from Kingfishers ........................................................................ 7
Toxics: Learning from Lotus Plants How to Clean without Cleaners ................................ 7
Energy: Learning from Humpback Whales How to Create Efficient Wind Power ............ 8
Energy Efficiency: Learning from Nature How to Create Flow without Friction .............. 8
Medicine: Learning From Chimpanzees How to Heal Ourselves ...................................... 9
Architecture: Learning from Termites How to Create Sustainable Buildings .................... 9
Human Safety: Learning from Dolphins How to Warn People about Tsunamis.............. 10
Industrial Design: Learning from Trees and Bones How to Optimize Strength and
Materials. .......................................................................................................................... 10
The Biomimicry Group, Inc. ................................................................................................ 11
The Biomimicry Guild ...................................................................................................... 11
The Biomimicry Institute .................................................................................................. 12
Ask Nature ........................................................................................................................ 13
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 14
Bibliography ............................................................................................................................. 15
Picture References: ................................................................................................................... 17

Executive summary
The purpose of the report is to introduce and create interest by the reader in the ideology of
biomimicry that refers to sustainability by looking to Nature for solutions. In this report the
basics of biomimicry are introduced to the reader as well as the history of biomimicry. There
will be explanation of biomimicry and examples of how biomimicry can be used to create
more sustainable world by looking at Nature as a model, mentor and measure. There is an
introduction of the largest institutions in this field and there is an explication of the creator of
biomimicry, Janine M. Benyus and her work.
By reading the report, the reader is more likely to understand Nature and how enlightened
thinking can help us learn and live in harmony with Nature.

Introduction
Through history the chasm between mankind and Nature has steadily grown and at some
point humanity stopped asking nature for answers.
By looking at the community today its hard not to ask how this will end?. The earliest
known writings of pollution were written between the 9th and the 13th centuries, but werent
really thought of until after the World War II, due to radioactive fallout from atomic warfare
and testing. After the Great Smog in London in 1952, that killed at least 4000 people, the first
major modern environmental legislation was set in 1956, The Clean Air Act. In the United
States the Congress passed the Clean Air act, the Clean Water Act and the National
Environmental Policy Act between the mid 1950s and early 1970s.
Rachel Carson's published her book Silent Spring in 1962. It generated a storm of
controversy over the use of chemical pesticides. She is by many recognised as the pioneer of
modern environmental awareness. Her intent was to warn the public of the dangers associated
with the use of pesticide. Carson introduced numerous case studies in her book documenting
the harmful effects that chemical pesticides have had on the environment. She also explains
how in many instances the pesticides have done more harm than good in eradicating the pests
they were designed to destroy. In addition to her reports on pesticide use, Carson points out
that many of the long-term effects, that these chemicals may have on the environment, as well
as on humans, are still unknown. The controversy sparked by Silent Spring led to the
enactment of environmental legislation and the establishment of government agencies to
better regulate the use of these chemicals. (1)
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) represented in 2007, the work of
2,500 scientists from more than 130 countries, which claim that humans have been the
primary cause of global warming since 1950. In order for mankind to stop affecting the
climate , it has to move away from fossil fuels like coal and oil, within few decades (2).
Though the awareness of pollution came to light due to the radioactive fallout, countries like
the US, GB, Canada and USSR started their nuclear power plant development in the early
1950s. After the Three Mile Island accident in 1979 and the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, the
constructions of new plants stopped in many countries (3). Even though nuclear power plants
are still made all over the world, and have been considred as quite safe operationally, at least
by scientists and professionals in the energy field, the earthquake and the Tsunami in Japan in
2011, gave the world a shock and probably will wake many to consideration of different

power solution that are safer and more eco-friendly than nuclear power. Though biomimicry
has already developed a lot, this might be the right time for a much faster growth.

It wasnt until a woman named Janine M. Benyus in 1997, created a field of subject called
Biomimicry (also known as biomimetics (4)) that combined engineering and biology, that
mankind started to look purposefully to nature for solutions again.
The word biomimicry is composed of two words, one being bios that means life and the other
being mimesis that means to imitate. By knowing the meaning of the word makes it easier to
understand the concept, but that is a design discipline that seeks sustainable solutions by
emulating nature (5). When looking into biomimicry the concept of thanking a Genius is
something that you come across a lot. The reason for that is that in biomimicry, Nature is
looked at as model, mentor and measure, because when looking and learning from Nature
these are the three groups everything is divided into. In the model group Natures models are
taken and tried to emulate their forms, processes, systems and strategies to create a
sustainable solution of human problems. By looking at Nature as a mentor, the idea to take
and use from nature is change to the idea to look and learn instead, because Natures
experience from 3.8 billion years of evolution, has found out what works and what does not
(5). In biomimicry nobody uses the organisms, they only use the blueprints or the recipes
from the organisms.
Biomimicrys solutions are sustainable, perform well, save energy, cut material costs, redefine
and eliminate waste, heighten existing product categories and define new product categories
and industries (6).
In Biomimicry you look back to the future and into natures development/evolution and uses
something thats right in front of you to improve our lifes and create new technology for
mankind. This basic idea to combine biology and engineering, is to help humanity treat
Nature better and in more harmony, so anyone from a single individual to the largest
enterprise, can create better products, become greener and work in harmony with nature.

Main section
"The more our world functions like the natural world, the more likely we are to endure on this
home that is ours, but not ours alone."
~ Janine Benyus (7).

The Creator
In 1997 Janine M. Benyus published a book called Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by
Nature (8) that book popularized Biomimicry and made it well known. Benyus is the
founder and the Board President of the Biomimicry Institute, and also a co-founder of
Biomimcry Guild. Benyus is also a Natural Sciences writer, innovation consultant, author (9)
as well as teacher and lecturer at the University of Montana (10). She has degrees both in
Natural Resource Management and English Literature/Writing from Rutgers University where
she graduated with highest honors (10). In 1997 Benuys was awarded the Rachel Carson
Environmental Ethics Award and in 2007 she was honored by the Time magazine as Heroes
of the Environment where the most innovative and influential protectors of the planet are
honored.
In 2005, Benyus was a speaker at a TED conference that was devoted to Inspired by Nature
where she talked about how people who make the world, for example architects and
engineers, started to contact her after she published the book and ask for a biologist to help
them solve problems. She also had another lesson in a story she told, how the thinking of
people can change, when demonstrated and taught about this new ideology. She had a group
of wastewater engineers, who at the beginning thought they were using biomimicry by using
bacteria to clean the water, except thats not biomimicry, thats bio-processing. So she asked
them to give her one of their biggest problems, a design challenge, that they said was scaling
of calcium carbonate, in the pipes. Then she pointed out that seashells are made from the
same material and explained how seashells grow and that they stop growing because of a
protein. This changed instantly the groups way of thinking and now there is a product used
called TPA that mimics the seashells protein. (11).
The following examples of biomimicry are excellent references of the biomimicry ideology.

Examples of Biomimicry:
Transportation: Learning from Kingfishers
When the West Japan Railway
Company had a noise problem
with one of their train, the fastest
one in the world, the trains chief
engineer

and

bird-watcher

decided to look in to Nature for

solution. In the end he decided to
design the front of the train after
the kingfishers, a bird which dives
from the air into water with very
little splash. As a result, the train got quieter and uses 15% less electricity even while the train
travels 10% faster (12).

Toxics: Learning from Lotus Plants How to Clean without Cleaners

The lotus leaf is one of the

most

water

repellent

leaves in the world. Many

would think the leaf to be
smooth because of its
quality but on the contrary
the lotus leaf is rough.
Even

though

its

microscopically rough it is
enough to trap a maze of
air which water droplets
float on and as a result cleans the leaf (7). A University professor at the University of Bonn in
Germany has developed a surface based on the lotus leaf (13). This knowledge has lead to a
new generation of paint, glass and fabric finishes all to minimize the use of chemical or
laborious cleaning (7).

Energy: Learning from Humpback Whales How to Create Efficient Wind Power
Whether

you

are

watching TV or whale
watching on a boat, the
first thing that comes to
your

mind

seeing

swimming whale isnt

how fast its going, it is
how easy and effortless
it looks. It looks big and
heavy and it is around
36.000 kilograms. Surprisingly the humpback whale is very dexterous and mainly due to his
flippers, when taken closer look at, have bumps called tubercules, on the front tip of their
flippers. This resulting in a better control as the bumps make it easier for the whale to split the
water as it swims and turns. Now scientists have tried the aerodynamics of humpback whales
flipper with and without the tubercules and the result are staggering. With the tubercules there
is an 8% improvent in lift and 32% reduction in drag. These informations have now been
used by a company named WhalePower to design wind turbines to increase their efficiency as
well as to have the potential to improve safety and performance of airplanes, fans and other
similar technologies (14).
Energy Efficiency: Learning from Nature How to Create Flow without Friction
Who wouldnt want to reduce energy usage and noise that comes from manmade machines
and devices? A company named PAX Scientific Inc. was able to reduce energy usage by 1085% in conventional rotors and noise by up to 75% when applying Natures model to fans,
mixers, propellers, turbines and pumps after looking into how Nature moves water and air.
(15).

Medicine: Learning From Chimpanzees How to Heal Ourselves

Chemicals that have
shown
results

promising
in

treating

various parasites in
humans

such

as

pinworm, hookworm
and giardia have been
found

in

named

plant

Vernonia

genus. Researchers who were watching chimpanzees discovered how they behaved when ill
and how the chimpanzees seek out the plant Veronia genus.

Even though about one out of four medicines derived from a plant, there is just a fraction of
the plant world known to humanity. By learning from other species and use the knowledge
those species have gathered through their history of thousands, if not millions, of years, to
make our search for new medical plants easier (16).
Architecture: Learning from Termites How to Create Sustainable Buildings
When

the

Eastgate

building

in

Zimbabwe

was created the goal was

to reduce energy usage as
to

be

sustainable.

Zimbabwe,

where

In
the

temperature outside can

vary from 3 C up to 43
C the air condition plays
a significant role. To obtain this goal, Mick Pearce the architect, looked at termites and how
they are able to keep the temperature in their nest within one degree. His solution was to have
specially designed hooded windows, variable thickness walls and light colored paints as a part
of a passive-cooling structure to reduce heat absorption. By doing so Eastegate uses 90% less
energy for ventilation than conventional building its size (17).

Human Safety: Learning from Dolphins How to Warn People about Tsunamis
A

Company

called

EvoLogics

has

developed

high-

performance underwater
modem

for

transmission,

data
due

to

dolphins technology of
communicating
processing
information

and
sound

accurately.

The problem until now

has been how unreliable the sound waves are when traveling through water because of the
destructive interference with one another due to reverberate. Now EvoLogics has found a way
to make them more accurate by imitating the dolphins, by having several frequencies in each
transmission. This has opened a new door and quality in the safety equipment that is used to
let people know if a tsunami is on its way to land. The equipment, that is combined of four
things, the sensor that has to be in water as deep as 6000 meter, the buoy thats on the surface
and a satellite that sends the information to an early warning center. Due to this information
from dolphins the signal from the sensors to the buoy is now more reliable that results in
greater human safety (18).
Industrial Design: Learning from Trees and Bones How to Optimize Strength and
Materials.
When looking closely
at a tree you are able to
see how the tree works,
how it maximizes its
strength and minimizes
its stress, by adding
material and arrange
the

fibers

where

needed. While bones

take

this

one

step
10

further by removing material where its not needed, is the difference due to the reason that
bones have to carry moving loads but trees dont. Now an engineer named Claus Matteck has
created software called Soft Kill Option that uses the information gathered about the trees
and the bones to optimize strength and minimize the use of materials in industrial design (19).

The Biomimicry Group, Inc.

The Biomimicry Group includes The Biomimicry Guild, which was started in 1998 and is a
consultancy for bio-inspired design also the not-for-profit education entity Biomimicry
Institute which was founded in 2005 and the newly founded social enterprise. The extended
enterprises on-going operations are overseen by the Biomimicry Group and also all new
ventures (20).
The Biomimicry Guild
Biomimicry Guild is a not-just-for-profit organization. Biomimicry Guild is the only
innovation consultancy in the world to use deep knowledge of biological adaption, education
and innovation practice to helps designers, engineers, architects and business leaders to solve
problems in a sustainable way by using biomimicry. (21).
Biomimicry Guild is an organization with clear vision and focus, a company that wants to
naturalize biomimicry in the design profession in order to increase respect for the natural
world and create well-adapted and life-friendly products and processes" (22). By helping
designers to learn from natures models in a practical way, the Guild enables them to develop
products, processes and policies that will benefit Nature and the humanity on the long run.
But this isnt the only thing the Guild provides to society, the Guild also provides biological
consulting and research, speakers bureau, workshops and filed excursions (23).
The Biologist at the Design Table (BaDT) course is a seven day training to teach biologists
how to help designers, architects, engineers and business people to use biomimicry to create
more sustainable world. In the course practitioners will learn how to introduce the design
process, use the biological knowledge they have to design challenges, how to facilitate
biomimetic design among other practical and necessary things that will enable them to fulfill
their tasks as a BaDT. But learning about these things is not enough and thats why
practitioners have to practice to use biomimicry in a real world scenario, solve designing
problems by looking to Nature for solutions and to understand Natures sustainable design. In
order fully understand Natures models there are field-based activities as a part of the BaDT
course (24).

11

At Biomimicry Guild there are two principals, Janine Benuys and her co-founder Dr. Dayna
Baumeister. Dr. Dayna Baumeister got a BS degree in Marine Biology from New College in
Sarasota, MS degree in Resource Conservation and a PhD degree in Organismic Biology and
Ecology from the University of Montana in Missoula. In her PhDs, Baunmeister specialized
in dynamics of positive interactions among animal and plant life (23). Then there is other staff
and associated personnel at the Guild that are combined of an Pixel Naturalist, two Senior
Biologist at the Design Table, Biologist at the Design Table, Green Chemistry Naturalist that
is a Member of the Biomimicry Speakers Bureau as well, Phytosleuth and an Certified
Biomimicry Professional. As well has the Guild associates and consultants who are Biologist
at the Design table as well as Workshop Instructor, Certified Biomimicry Professional,
Industrial Design/Web Designer and a Member of the Biomimicry Speakers Bureau, two
Members of the Biomimicry Speaker Bureau and Sustainability Consultant that is as well a
Member of the Biomimicry Speakers Bureau.

In order to achieve the goal of naturalize the biomimicry in the design profession, the Guild
has systematically been creating a dynamic ecosystem of individuals and organizations that
are spread all over the world. As a result when a project that needs specific professional
experience, there is nothing in the way of the right people to take on that project (23).
In their work, Guild has helped clients such as General Electric, HOK Architects, Levis,
NASA and Seventh Generation to create sustainable products, processes and policies based on
natures principles (9). The HOK project is a large project both for the Biomimicry Guild as
well as on international scale, where the Guild is to help with the design of international
building projects, that imitate ecosystems (25).

The Biomimicry Institute

Is a not-for-profit organization with a goal to create healthier and more sustainable planet by
creating a global community of people who are learning and emulating from Natures
genius (21). On the Institutes homepage there is an option to download curricular at a K-12
level (Youth Education), University level and for Professional Pathways which is

at a

masters level. This is aimed at schools and universities to spread the seed of biomimicry and
make them a part of the biomimicry community, while the Biomimicry Professional Pathways
Certification Program is taught through a program initiated by the Institute (26). As said
12

earlier the Board President of the Biomimicry Institute is Janine Benyus who sits on the board
along with eight other board members. The gender ratio is five females versus four males, one
of the board members is the Director of Sustainability at Autodesk, Lynelle Cameron.
Ask Nature
Due to a sponsorship from Autodesk, the Biomimicry Institute was able to lunch
AskNature.org in 2008 (27). The idea behind AskNature is to create online inspiration source
for the biomimicry community, a free open source project, built by the community and for the
community (28). The website is the first of its kind, a website that organizes the worlds
biological literature by function. Encyclopedia of Life (EOL), a database with natural history
information and the Wiser Earth network are working with AskNature.org to gain information
and help grow the social web of the site (28). The partnership between AskeNature and EOL
entails in that when a scientist contributes to EOL he answers a question What can we learn
from this organism? and that information gos into AskNature.org (29). In 2010
AskNature.org won the Earth Award in systems category. One of many reasons was to raise
awareness of the website in and sustainable way of living in harmony with Nature (30). Now
there are more than 2,100 technological innovations and ideas in the database as well as more
than 2,400 registered users from more than 196 countries (31).
AskNature.org is today thought of as an inspiration source for the biomimicry community and
the person who has the great responsibility to make it stay that way is Sharon Ritter. Sharon
Ritter who manages the website is well educated and has a MS degree in wildlife ecology
from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is hopefully the right person for the job (23).

13

Conclusion
Even though Biomimicry is a rather young field of subject it is very likely to have a great
impact on our society in the future, as a new way of thinking bringing forward a sustainable
solution harmonizing with nature. While the Biomimicry is getting better known by societies
around the world, the biologists are getting their seat at the designing table, as a result the
solutions in those projects they participate in are moving humanity closer to Nature. Each step
in the right direction will help mankind to endure here on Earth for the time to come. One of
the important things in this quest is to get people on board with ideology and by initiating the
work of as many as possible, by amongst other ways utilizing the tools shown and given in
the Biomimicry Guild, Bimimicry Institute and AskNature.org. As shown in the examples of
Biomimicry the solutions are out there and by looking at Nature as a model, mentor and
measure, they can be found and utilized.
Inspired by Nature is a concept that you look at afterwards and dont understand why you
didnt see it before it was pointed out to you.

14

Bibliography
1. Baker, Randall. Rachel Carsons Silent Spring and the Beginning of the Environmental
Movement in the United States. Classwebs.spea.indiana.edu. [Online] [Cited: March 27,
2011.] http://classwebs.spea.indiana.edu/bakerr/v600/rachel_carson_and_silent_spring.htm.
2. Pollution. Wikipedia. [Online] March 23, 2011. [Cited: March 23, 2011.]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollution.
3. Nuclear power. Wikipedia. [Online] March 23, 2011. [Cited: March 23, 2011.]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power.
4. Biomimicry. Wikipedia. [Online] March 8, 2011. [Cited: March 16, 2011.]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomimicry.
5. The Biomimicry Institute. What Is Biomimicry? Ask Nature. [Online] 2008-2011. [Cited:
March 10, 2011.] http://www.asknature.org/article/view/what_is_biomimicry.
6. Biomimicry Guild. What is Biomimicry? . Biomimicry Guild. [Online] 2008. [Cited:
March 25, 2011.] http://www.biomimicryguild.com/guild_biomimicry.html.
7. Biomimicry Institute. Toxics. Biomimicry Institute. [Online] 2007-2011. [Cited: March
22, 2011.] http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/case-studies/case-studies/toxics.html.
8. Janine_Benyus. Wikipedia. [Online] February 15, 2011. [Cited: March 16, 2011.]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janine_Benyus.
9. Biomimicry Institute. Board. Biomimicry Institute. [Online] 2007-2011. [Cited: March 21,
2011.] http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/about-us/board.html.
10. Autodesk. Sustainable Design, Janine Benyus. Autodesk. [Online] [Cited: March 23,
2011.] http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/item?siteID=123112&id=12606570.
11. Janine Benyus. Janine Benyus shares nature's designs. TED. [Online] April 2007. [Cited:
March 17, 2011.] http://www.ted.com/talks/janine_benyus_shares_nature_s_designs.html.
12. Biomimicry Institute. Transportation. Biomimicry Institute. [Online] 2007-2011. [Cited:
March
22,
2011.]
http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/case-studies/casestudies/transportation.html.
13. Benyus, Janine M. Innovation inspired by nature. Tropicaldesign.org. [Online] 2006.
[Cited: March 11, 2011.] http://tropicaldesign.org/biomimicry/tnep_biomimicry_000.pdf.
14. Biomimicry Institute. Energy. Biomimicry Institute. [Online] 2007-2011. [Cited: March
22, 2011.] http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/case-studies/case-studies/energy.html.
15. . Energy Efficiency. Biomimicry Institute. [Online] 2007-2011. [Cited: March 22,
2011.] http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/case-studies/case-studies/energy-efficiency.html.
16. . Medicine. Biomimicry Institute. [Online] 2007-2011. [Cited: March 22, 2011.]
http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/case-studies/case-studies/medicine.html.
17. . Architecture. Biomimicry Institute. [Online] 2007-2011. [Cited: March 22, 2011.]
http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/case-studies/case-studies/architecture.html.
18. . Human safety. Biomimicry Institute. [Online] 2007-2011. [Cited: March 22, 2011.]
http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/case-studies/case-studies/human-safety.html.
19. . Industrial design. Biomimicry Institute. [Online] 2007-2011. [Cited: March 22,
20011.] http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/case-studies/case-studies/industrial-design.html.
20. . Job Openings. Biomimicry Institute. [Online] 2007-2011. [Cited: March 26, 2011.]
http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/about-us/about-us/job-openings.html.
15

21. The Biomimicry Institute. AskNature FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions). Ask Nature.
[Online] 2008-2011. [Cited: March 22, 2011.] http://www.asknature.org/article/view/faq.
22. Biomimicry Guild. Biomimicry Guild method of consulting. Biomimicry Guild. [Online]
2008. [Cited: March 25, 2011.] http://www.biomimicryguild.com/guild_services.html.
23. . About the Biomimicry Guild. Biomimicry Guild. [Online] 2006-2010. [Cited: March
23, 2011.] http://www.biomimicryguild.com/guild_about_us.html.
24. . BaDT Training. Biomimicry Guild. [Online] 2006-2009. [Cited: March 26, 2011.]
http://www.biomimicryguild.com/badt_workshop.html.
25. Fortune. CnnMoney.com, Fortune. 10 new gurus you should know. [Online] November
13,
2008.
[Cited:
March
22,
2011.]
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fortune/0811/gallery.10_new_gurus.fortune/8.html.
26. Biomimicry Institute. Education and Training. Biomimicry Institute. [Online] [Cited:
March 10, 2011.] http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/home-page-content/home-pagecontent/education.html.
27. The Biomimicry Institute. Sponsors & Partners. Ask Nature. [Online] 2008-2011. [Cited:
March 22, 2011.] http://www.asknature.org/article/view/our_sponsors.
28. . What is AskNature? . Ask Nature. [Online] 2008-2011. [Cited: March 22, 2011.]
http://www.asknature.org/article/view/what_is_ask_nature.
29. Janine Benyus. Janine Benyus: Biomimicry in action. TED. [Online] August 2009.
[Cited:
March
17,
2011.]
http://www.ted.com/talks/janine_benyus_biomimicry_in_action.html.
30. AN ECOSTYLE INITIATIVE. Systems, AskNature -2010 Category Winner. The Earth
Awards.
[Online]
2010.
[Cited:
March
22,
2011.]
http://www.theearthawards.org/winner/2010/systems/.
31. The Biomimicry Institute. Wikipedia. [Online] August 23, 2010. [Cited: March 27, 2011.]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Biomimicry_Institute.
32. Benyus, Janine M. Chapter 1- Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. Biomimicry
Guild.
[Online]
1997.
[Cited:
Marc
16,
2011.]
http://www.biomimicryguild.com/janinefirstchap.html.
33. Biomimicry Guild. A Conversation with Janine Benyus. Biomimicry Guild. [Online]
2008. [Cited: March 17, 2011.] http://www.biomimicryguild.com/janineinterview.html.
34. Dave Loos. Biomimicry's Janine Benyus Honored by Time Magazine. New West
Environment.
[Online]
November
8,
2007.
[Cited:
March
17,
2011.]
http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/biomimicrys_janine_benyus_honored_by_time_magazi
ne/C38/L38/.
35. Amory B. Lovins. Heroes of the Environment Janine Benyus. Time. [Online] October 17,
2007.
[Cited:
March
17,
2011.]
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1663317_1663319_1669888,00.html
.
36. Control of fire by early humans. Wikipedia. [Online] February 28, 2011. [Cited: March
10, 2011.] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_of_fire_by_early_humans.
37. Stone tool. Wikipedia. [Online] March 10, 2011. [Cited: March 10, 2011.]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_tool.

16

38. Sociocultural evolution. Wikipedia. [Online] March 9, 2011. [Cited: March 10, 2011.]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociocultural_evolution.
39. Wiser Earth. Biomimicry. WiserEarth.org. [Online] [Cited: March 10, 2011.]
http://www.wiserearth.org/aof/22.
40. Encyclopedia of Life. Wikipedia. [Online] March 7, 2011. [Cited: March 17, 2011.]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclopedia_of_life.
41. Biomimicry Institute. Climate Change. Biomimicry Institute. [Online] 2007-2011.
[Cited:
March
22,
2011.]
http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/case-studies/casestudies/climate-change.html.
42. . Agriculture. Biomimicry Institute. [Online] 2007-2011. [Cited: March 22, 2011.]
http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/case-studies/case-studies/agriculture.html.
43. . Education and Training. Biomimicry Institute. [Online] 2007-2011. [Cited: March 26,
2011.]
http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/home-page-content/home-pagecontent/education.html.

Picture References:
Transportation: http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/images/case_studies/kingfisher.jpg
Toxics: http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/images/case_studies/toxics.jpg
Energy: http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/images/case_studies/energy.jpg
Energy Efficiency:
http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/images/case_studies/energy_efficiency.jpg
Climate Change: http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/images/case_studies/climate_change.jpg
Medicine: http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/images/case_studies/medicine.jpg
Architecture: http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/images/case_studies/architecture.jpg
Human Safety: http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/images/case_studies/human_safety.jpg
Industrial Design: http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/images/case_studies/design.jpg
Agriculture: http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/images/case_studies/agriculture.jpg

17