Scientists look to nature for technological innovation

• If we have Batman and Spider-Man, why don't we have any mussel superheroes?"
• In fact, nature can accomplish feats that engineers have only been able to dream of until now.
• But as scientists peer deeper into the cellular and molecular workings of nature, engineers are starting to find information they can apply to everything from advanced optics to robotics---even a mussel-inspired glue that could one day be used to repair shattered bones.
• The result is a new field called biomimicry, or biologically inspired design.
• And though nature's innovations often need radical adaptation to suit human purposes, the new approach has the potential to improve the way we do everything, from desalinating water to streamlining cars.
• "If you have a design problem, nature's probably solved it already," says Janine Benyus, cofounder of the Biomimicry Guild.
• Jewel beetles, which lay their eggs in freshly burned trees, can detect fires from miles away; the defense industry is studying the beetles for clues to designing new low-cost, military-grade infrared detectors.
• NASA-supported researchers at Princeton are analyzing the remarkable strength of abalone shells to help make impact-resistant coatings for thermal tiles.
• And the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is funding development of a robot that can climb vertical surfaces, using the same principle that geckos use to walk up walls and saunter upside down across ceilings.
• You know how the screens on digital cameras and laptops wash out in bright light?
• Their iridescent blues and greens come not from pigments---the only actual pigment in peacock feathers is brown---but from repeating microstructures on the feather that reflect certain wavelengths in perfect sync, intensifying a given hue.
• Combined in a beaker of water, molecules with segments that are drawn to water and others that are repelled by it arrange themselves in predictable patterns.