Interest · 12 examples
12 examples where people turned a strategy from nature into technology solutions.
Pine cone (Pinus spp.) hygroscopic response
Pine cone's humidity-responsive opening/closing mechanism inspires early wildfire detection devices that require no electronics.
Termite swarm collective behaviour
Termite swarm coordination logic inspires decentralised building HVAC systems that optimise energy without central controls.
Night-flying moths (various nocturnal Lepidoptera)
Moths' eyes are covered in an array of tiny bumps that eliminate virtually all reflection, allowing maximum light to enter in darkness. This "moth-eye" anti-reflection structure is now used in high-efficiency solar cells, increasing energy capture by up to 40%, and in anti-glare screens for every device you own.
Human lungs and pulmonary physiology
Carbon dioxide removal technology inspired by human lung gas exchange mechanisms for direct air capture.
Plants and photosynthetic microorganisms
New Iridium and other companies develop light-driven chemical energy systems mimicking photosynthesis. These systems convert light directly into chemical energy (hydrogen, hydrocarbons) without biological organisms.
Human retina photoreceptor and ganglion cell arrays
Human retinal architecture inspires event-based vision sensors generating 1000x less data than conventional cameras whilst capturing motion and edges.
Slime mold (Physarum polycephalum)
Railway system and network design inspired by slime mold's ability to create optimal resource distribution networks without central planning.
Dolphin echolocation system
Dolphin echolocation processing inspires S2C acoustic modems achieving accurate underwater communication where conventional sonars fail.
Human Immune System (T-cells, Sentinel Pattern)
Distributed sentinel nodes like immune T-cells.
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)
DNA-based digital data storage technology developed by Cache DNA that uses the four DNA bases to encode binary information.
Specialized smell sensor technology Figuring out how insects smell led to an amazing discovery—a set of specially made smell receptors that can be used to create highly sensitive biosensors. These sensors can detect and measure thousands of different compounds, the human nose can not.
Swarm intelligence systems (ant colonies, bird flocks, fish schools)
Blockchain technology incorporates swarm intelligence principles enabling decentralized consensus and coordination. Distributed networks achieve agreement without central authority, mimicking how social insects organize.
For R&D and product teams