User:AlysEder/Biomimetics

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Giant axons of the longfin inshore squid (Doryteuthis pealeii) were crucial for scientists to understand the action potential.

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Article is rated a C and also high on the importance scale. The article is within in the scope of engineering and biology. Which I think can also be added to the a large portion of design. It seems like biomimicry is also a paradigm of thought. That being said, I do think it would be wise to explain what exactly biomimicry is,.. is it a thought process, a heuristic tool, a paradigm, all of the above, etc. How is it being operationally defined and then make sure that the article encompasses that.

At least in the break down of the article I believe it's organization can greatly improve, in the case that additional information is added. For instance any insitutions that are a result of Biomimicry should be added, in addition to the college's that hold disciplines. As well as, who exactly is researching this currently and how has in past, and possibly where the discipline is going in the future.

With the degree of future changes, the lead will need to change as new information is added.

It seems like a lot of the references currently are specific articles from designs from engineers and biologists, which is a good indicator of where to find information. I do believe there to be information gaps in the sense that the list of examples of biomimicry is not exhaustive. One problem I do foresee is that many examples of biomimicry were created not in the precognition that it was in fact mimicking nature. In addition, a classification of something that in itself is not nature is indicative of our own current relation to nature, epistemologically.

Lead

Biomimetics or biomimicry is the emulation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems. The terms "biomimetics" and "biomimicry" are derived from Ancient Greek: βίος (bios), life, and μίμησις (mīmēsis), imitation, from μιμεῖσθαι (mīmeisthai), to imitate, from μῖμος (mimos), actor. A closely related field is bionics.

Living organisms have evolved well-adapted structures and materials over geological time through natural selection. Nature inspires humans to create inventions in any discipline- be it science, medicine, clothing design and architecture. Through observation and comparison people have used inspiration from the natural world to create. In addition, biomimicry is the idea of taking the processes of natural phenomena to develop problem solving techniques to novel problems. The world of biology can be and is a design resource.

Biomimetics has given rise to new technologies inspired by biological solutions at macro and nanoscales. Humans have looked at nature for answers to problems throughout their existence. Nature has solved engineering problems such as self-healing abilities, environmental exposure to tolerance and resistance, hydrophobicity, self-assembly, and harnessing solar energy.

History

One of the early examples of biomimicry was the study of birds to enable human flight. Although never successful in creating a "flying machine", Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) was a keen observer of the anatomy and flight of birds, and made numerous notes and sketches on his observations as well as sketches of "flying machines". Leonardo da Vinci's design for a flying machine with wings based closely upon the structure of bat wings. The Wright Brothers, who succeeded in flying the first heavier-than-air aircraft in 1903, allegedly derived inspiration from observations of pigeons in flight. Leonardo da Vinci's design for a flying machine with wings based closely upon the structure of bat wings

During the 1950s the American biophysicist and polymath Otto Schmitt developed the concept of "biomimetics". During his doctoral research he developed the Schmitt trigger by studying the nerves in squid, attempting to engineer a device that replicated the biological system of nerve propagation. He continued to focus on devices that mimic natural systems and by 1957 he had perceived a converse to the standard view of biophysics at that time, a view he would come to call biomimetics.

Biophysics is not so much a subject matter as it is a point of view. It is an approach to problems of biological science utilizing the theory and technology of the physical sciences. Conversely, biophysics is also a biologist's approach to problems of physical science and engineering, although this aspect has largely been neglected. — 

In 1960 Jack E. Steele coined a similar term, bionics, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, where Otto Schmitt also worked. Steele defined bionics as "the science of systems which have some function copied from nature, or which represent characteristics of natural systems or their analogues". During a later meeting in 1963 Schmitt stated,

Let us consider what bionics has come to mean operationally and what it or some word like it (I prefer biomimetics) ought to mean in order to make good use of the technical skills of scientists specializing, or rather, I should say, despecializing into this area of research. — 

In 1969, Schmitt used the term "biomimetic" in the title one of his papers, and by 1974 it had found its way into Webster's Dictionary. Bionics entered the same dictionary earlier in 1960 as "a science concerned with the application of data about the functioning of biological systems to the solution of engineering problems". Bionic took on a different connotation when Martin Caidinreferenced Jack Steele and his work in the novel Cyborg which later resulted in the 1974 television series The Six Million Dollar Man and its spin-offs. The term bionic then became associated with "the use of electronically operated artificial body parts" and "having ordinary human powers increased by or as if by the aid of such devices". Because the term bionic took on the implication of supernatural strength, the scientific community in English speaking countries largely abandoned it.

The term biomimicry appeared as early as 1982. Biomimicry was popularized by scientist and author Janine Benyus in her 1997 book Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. Biomimicry is defined in the book as a "new science that studies nature's models and then imitates or takes inspiration from these designs and processes to solve human problems". Benyus suggests looking to Nature as a "Model, Measure, and Mentor" and emphasizes sustainability as an objective of biomimicry.

One of the latest examples of biomimicry has been created by Johannes-Paul Fladerer and Ernst Kurzmann by the description of "managemANT". This term (a combination of the words "management" and "ant"), describes the usage of behavioural strategies of ants in economic and management strategies.

Inspiration From Plants and Fruits [edit]

One source of Biomimetic inspiration is from plants. Plants have proven to be concept generations for the following functions; re(action)-coupling, self (adaptability), self-repair, and energy-automony. As plants do not have a centralized decision making unit (i.e. a brain), most plants have a decentralized autonomous system in various organs and tissues of the plant. Therefore, they react to multiple stimulus such as light, heat, and humidity.

One example, is the carnivores planet species the Dionaea Muscipula, Venus flytrap. For the last 25 years, there has been research focus on the motion principles of the plant to develop AVFT (artificial Venus flytrap robots). Through the movement through pray capture, the plant inspired soft robotic motion systems. The fast snap of the trap closure movement is initiated when prey triggers the hairs of the plant within a certain time (within 100-300 ms). AVFT systems exist, in which the trap closure movements are actualized via magnetism, electricity, pressurized air, and tempature changes.

Another example of mimicking plants, is the Pollia condensata, also known as the marble berry. The chiral self-assembly of cellulose inspired by the Pollia condensata berry has been exploited to make optically active films. Such films are made from cellulose which is a biodegradable and biobased resource obtained from wood or cotton. The structural colours can potentially be everlasting and have more vibrant colour than the ones obtained from chemical absorption of light. Pollia condensata is not the only fruit showing a structural coloured skin; iridescence is also found in berries of other species such as Margaritaria nobilis. These fruits show iridescent colors in the blue-green region of the visible spectrum which gives the fruit a strong metallic and shiny visual appearance. The structural colours come from the organisation of cellulose chains in the fruit's epicarp, a part of the fruit skin. Each cell of the epicarp is made of a multilayered envelope that behaves like a Bragg reflector. However, the light which is reflected from the skin of these fruits is not polarised unlike the one arising from man-made replicates obtained from the self-assembly of cellulose nanocrystals into helicoids, which only reflect left-handed circularly polarised light.

The fruit of Elaeocarpus angustifolius also show structural colour that come arises from the presence of specialised cells called iridosomes which have layered structures. Similar iridosomes have also been found in Delarbrea michieana fruits.

In plants, multi layer structures can be found either at the surface of the leaves (on top of the epidermis), such as in Selaginella willdenowii or within specialized intra-cellular organelles, the so-called iridoplasts, which are located inside the cells of the upper epidermis. For instance, the rain forest plants Begonia pavonina have iridoplasts located inside the epidermal cells.

Structural colours have also been found in several algae, such as in the red alga Chondrus crispus (Irish Moss).

Institutions