BioInspired! So What? Now What!

"Nature's 100 Best Initiative Publishes Preliminary Findings on How to Green the Global Economy ... It is aimed at showcasing how tomorrow's economy can be realized today by learning, copying and mimicking the way nature has already solved many of the technological and sustainability problems confronting humankind. According to Janine Benyus and Gunter Pauli, co-creators of the Nature's 100 Best project, "Life solves its problems with well-adapted designs, life-friendly chemistry, and smart material and energy use. What better models could there be?"

This press release provides a sneak preview for the Nature's Best 100 List, to be launched at the IUCN World Conservation Congress (Barcelona) in October 2008 in conjunction with the Biomimicry Institute's AskNature.org portal.  A number of innovations are described (with links for further information), including:

• pacemakers modeled on the heart of humpback whales
• vaccines that require no refrigeration, based on the survival capabilities of the "resurrection plant"
• low-friction surfaces based on the skin of the Sandfish lizard
• controlling biofilms using furanones (see March 2007 BioInspired! Newsletter for additional information
• capturing water vapor (such as from cooling towers) based on the wing scales of the Namibia beetle