How can termites in Africa help you innovate?
- Due Oct 7, 2013 at 9:59pm
- Points 1
- Questions 1
- Time Limit None
Instructions
When he was only four years old, my neighbor could already tell the difference between fruit bats and mosquito bats, between insects and arachnids. He carried a plastic cockroach around with him (when his wooden alligator is lost). I love looking at the world from his curious (and low-to-the-ground) perspective because nature can teach us about everything. Nature has already solved many of the problems us humans are struggling with. The termites in the picture below, for example, have figured out how to design housing that doesn't require central air conditioning. In this module you will apply biomimicry to your sustainable energy innovation.
"When designers are starting on a project, it makes sense to ask, ‘What in the natural world is already doing what I’m trying to do?’” – Janine Benyus
Biomimicry
Reading & Video
Watch:
Janine Benyus on Biomimicry
Links to an external site.
Read about this 13 year old who used biomimicry to design a solar array Links to an external site. and about the Professors who say the idea isn't all its cracked up to be Links to an external site..