Biomimetic Design: BCI Ideas From Nature Round 2

Date: 2/19/23

Location: Casablanca, Morocco

Conditions: Warm and sunny, with a slight cool breeze after a quick mid-day rain.

Intent of Session: Coming up with 30 organisms that perform relevant functions for (my) design challenges.

Design Challenges:

1. How does nature protect from wind and rain?

2. How does nature reuse/share materials within a social group?

3. How does nature mimic functions that work well?

Imagine: So, here are my list of organisms:

1. Numbat: for its temperature regulating ability by lowering and raising fur

2. Polar Bear: for its ability to absorb heat through its translucent fur fibers

3. Merino Sheep: for its ability to trap heat with its wool/hair

4. Canadian Goose: for its ability to trap heat with its down feathers

5. Humpback Whale: for its ability to filter water with the use of baleen

6. Lesser Burdock: for its ability to attach to moving things

7. Bottlenose Dolphin: for its ability to learn from its peers

8. Penguins: for their ability to repel water

9. Leatherback Sea Turtle: for its ability to regulate temperature with a vascular lining

10. Elephant Seals: for there nasal turbines that reduce water loss

11. Fish Pole Bamboo: for their ability to be flexible and durable due to their fiber arrangement

12. Ants: their ability to respond quickly to disruptions

13. Mantis Shrimp: for their ability to resist damage during high impact

14. Nasturtium leaves: for their ridges that reduce contact with water

15. Tulips: for their ability to protect pollen through their petal shape

16. Arthropods: for their protective shell made of composite materials

17. Venus Flower Basket Sea Sponge: is flexible and durable due to its multiple levels of organizational structure

18. Butterfly (larvae): for its ability to hold tightly due to hooks and use of silk

19. Sea Urchin: avoid cracking and breaking due to arrangement of plates

20. African Elephant: regulate temperature through hot spots on skin

21. Oysters: build a flexible adhesive through protein web

22. Nurse Shrubs: encourage ecosystem regeneration through providing shade

23. Live Oaks: withstand strong winds due to strength of wood

24. Pelicans: how they fly in groups to reduce wind resistance

25. Artic Willow: withstand strong winds due to their horizontal directional growth

26. Harbor Seals: track prey using their whiskers to track their wake

27. Chameleons: ability to change its appearance through shifting crystals

28. Zebra Finches: learn quickly due to feedback loop function of their brains

29. Bacteria: used chemical signals to communicate

30. Rockweed Seaweed: reproductive tissues respond to favorable living conditions