Biomimetics, sometimes known as bionics or biomimicry, is the art of taking natural adaptive strategies used by plants or animals and translating them into engineering designs that can be used to implement products or tools. Biomimetics is also a relatively recent academic field based on using these strategies, centered at the University of Bath in the UK, but with adherents everywhere. Rather than looking at it as an independent field, biomimetics is probably better described as a frame of mind that can be held by any inventor or scientist.
There are many obvious applications of biomimetics. Velcro is meant to simulate the grasping effect of plant burrs. Water and dirt-resistant paint is said to mirror the hydrophobic skin of the lotus. Fabric can be used to create an artificial canopy.
Some unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) simulate various aspects of insects used in flying and clinging to walls. Radar and sonar allegedly imitate the echolocation faculties of bats. An artificial pacemaker mimics a collection of organic pacemaker cells located next to the heart.
Biomimetics can be said to be present in all engineering and design to the extent that we as humans are prone to be inspired by nature and life. We also see much of nature as aesthetically pleasing, and may be prone to imitate it even if there is an “unnatural” approach that serves its function better. There are also fundamental elements in any complex system that may converge in their form and function, creating unavoidable similarities in biology and technology. Biomimetics may be invoked as a way of causing environmentalist types to open up more to technology as a source of elegant solutions to everyday problems.
Other applications of biomimetics may be more cutting-edge or even futuristic compared to products like Velcro. In the past few decades, it has become possible entirely to emulate brain regions or even the entire brain of certain simplistic animals such as lobsters. This is referred to as biomimetics even if the emulation is only of scientific interest and has no concrete applications.
Large ornithopters, planes with flapping wings, have not yet been successfully flown, but will be in the near future, inspired by birds. Combat robots of the future have been portrayed as giant insectoids when on land, and giant tadpoles when in the sea. The ATATs from Star Wars look like giant elephants. More biomimetically inspired technological marvels are sure to come, both in the world of fiction and in our real world.
Michael is a longtime WiseGEEK contributor who specializes in topics relating to paleontology, physics, biology, astronomy, chemistry, and futurism. In addition to being an avid blogger, Michael is particularly passionate about stem cell research, regenerative medicine, and life extension therapies. He has also worked for the Methuselah Foundation, the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence, and the Lifeboat Foundation.