Biomimicry

Notes from Bioengineering Conference, Nov 25, Long Beach, CA

I like to follow developments that that are the result of ‘biomimicry’. Then again, I’m weird like that. However, I think it’s something that merits attention. Biomimicry is the practice of overcoming obstacles by seeing what works in nature. Naturalistic observation is just as valid as ‘laboratory observation’ in science. According to the speakers today, discovering how things work in nature has inspired breakthroughs in computer technology, renewable energy and regenerative medicine, just to name three.

Renewable energy: Biologists observing the motion of humpback whales have found more efficient ways to capture energy from the wind. They noticed how the saw-tooth bumps (tubercles) that line the edge of a whale’s fin help them perform better in slow-moving water. When they line the edge of blades on a wind-turbine with similar bumps; the blades rotate faster in response to slow-moving wind. This has led to the installation of more efficient and lower-profile ‘wind-mills’ in the desert outside of Palm Springs.

Regenerative medicine: Psychologists observing the natural development of language have made contributions to the field of regenerative medicine. They saw how children learn grammar as a result of social interaction ..with little or no coaching. When they simulate the social environment of early childhood; stroke victims make faster progress toward recovering language skills. This has led to the design of training-programs, hosted as video games ..that are more interactive and engaging. Results can be seen in speech performance as well as on MRI scans of the brain.

Closing remarks: Geoffrey Spedding, an engineer from USC, talked about limits to what we can learn from nature. He says “… the designs that come through evolution are just good enough to survive, that’s all. Nature has yet to come up with a decent wheel.” I had to disagree. In my humble opinion, evolution did produce an information-processing device capable of infinitely more ..the human brain. So, however indirect ..nature did invent the wheel.

Aerial snowboarding

A flying wing is the ‘holy grail’ of aerodynamics. It would be the fastest and cheapest way to fly ..capable of taking you from Los Angeles to Europe in a little less that five hours ..and at half the cost. If you’ve never seen one ..it looks kind of like a boomerang ..and moves like a snowboard. Point it forward, it speeds up ..turn it sideways, it slows down. It would be the first plane to zoom like a fighter ..and float like a glider. First thing they gotta’ do ..in order to keep it from tumbling head over heels ..is make it behave like a snowboard. To do this, they have to load the onboard computer with everything that a snowboarder knows from years of experience. Things like the feel of the board .. changes in surface conditions ..body motions ..timing, etc.. So, don’t be surprised to see a bunch of geeks crashing down the slopes this winter. And don’t be too tweaked by this new type of sponger ..it may have some dead presidents to trade for what’s inside you head.

(I keep track of developments in biomimicry ..I'm weird that way)

Biomimicry

I am a true believer in the benefits of ‘biomimicy’. Biomimicry is the practice of overcoming obstacles by looking for ways in which nature overcomes them. For example, psychologists are learning how to treat depression by studying the traits of people who are resistant to depression ..computer scientists are developing speech recognition systems by studying the way people communicate in real life. I used to advise all second year psychology and computer science students to take at least one course in ‘naturalistic observation’. I’m reading today’s LA Times where researchers in the field of medicine say that biomimicry may be the only way they have left to fight life-threatening diseases like cancer and AIDS. The AIDS virus is a changeling ..it mutates so fast that doctors have a hard time developing drugs fast enough to recognize them. Vaccines don't work because antibodies can’t see them either. They’ve got sort of like a Star Wars shield protecting them. However, we are beginning to see that not everybody who gets the infection suffers from the disease. It turns out that the best chance we have of fighting AIDS is by looking for naturally occurring substances in the body that give these people built-in immunity.

Ocean view

Jim is in town today ..we’re sitting outside the restaurant at Arroyo Burro beach ..and he asks me if I’ve read ‘Da Vinci Code’ yet ..like he recommended years ago ..no, I haven’t ..I instinctively avoid ‘trendy’ literature ..but I am attracted to new ideas ..especially ones that challenge the established order of things ..and I know that DaVinci Code has a world-class premise ..it's also refreshing to see ‘information’ being treated as ‘holy grail’ material ..with all of the life-giving properties that that entails. I say, you know Jim ..I’ve been around the ocean most of my life ..and it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that King Neptune has a hidden ‘grail’ full of information as well. What kind of information ? Well, if you believe that life evolved from the ocean ..then it makes sense that the secrets to sustaining life ..and curing life-threatening diseases ..are floating around out there ..I mean, would we have come this far if there wasn't something out there mopping things up ..?

Copy cats

I watch for developments in biomimicry. Biomimicry is the art of solving problems by looking for similar obstacles in nature ..then seeing how nature acts to overcome them. It’s the way doctors in ancient China discovered medicinal properties of plants. Today, physicians treat stroke victims by using medicine based on the saliva of vampire bats ..it keeps blood from clotting so that bats can drink longer ..and doctors can relieve blocked arteries.

Computer engineers study the inner ear so that robots have better orientation and can pick themselves up after they fall. They also study the way the brain processes information in order to keep robots from crashing into things. Just like us, they have to sort through streaming input, detect obstacles and adjust. Interestingly enough, they also become neurotic ..sometimes they sense ‘phantom obstacles’. That is, they see problems that aren’t really there.

Speech to the cosmo computer group

Biomimicry is the art of solving problems by seeing what similar obstacles exist in nature ..then discovering how nature acts to overcome them. One of my favorite examples of biomimicry comes from the story of the Swiss inventor George de Mestral. He was an avid hiker who spent a lot of time removing the burrs that stuck to his clothes at the end of every hike. Curious about how this happened, he examined the burrs and found they contained tiny, hook-like spears that had a natural tendency to attach themselves to the miniature loops found in fabric. He used the same mechanism in the 1950’s when he invented Velcro.

In order to combat biological weapons, the Defense Industry studies the reproductive behavior of insects to see how they detect trace amounts of chemical and biological agents over long distances. In bioengineering, scientists study birds to see how they recognize the songs of their own species in order to come up with better ‘speech recognition’ systems for the disabled. Last year physicists made the first practical observation of ‘quantum teleportation’ ..a trick of nature that could make future computers incredibly small and powerful.

My experience with biomimicry began while I was testing theories of reading comprehension in graduate school. A practical result of this study was to see if we could develop a ‘natural language interface’ to the computer. This was before the advent of the ‘graphical user interface’. My job was to see how people ‘store and retrieve’ information from reading material. I submitted my findings to the computer science department so they could program ‘text comprehension rules’ for the computer. We were developing a system that could answer questions by retrieving information stored on a computer database. In a sense, we were studying the activity of the mind in order to develop a better interface to the computer.

I believe that this type of research has applications in education ..for helping people with reading disabilities ..as well as the computer industry ..for helping web designers build more ‘intelligent’ search engines.