According to the US-based Biomimicry Institute, biomimicry is a practice that learns from and mimics the strategies found in nature to solve human design challenges.

Put simply, its the innovation that arises from nature. And from Velcro to bullet trains, nature can be seen as the inspiration behind many of societys latest and greatest innovations.

The fastest train in the world was creating serious noise pollution until Japanese engineer, Eiji Nakatsu came across an innovative idea while birdwatching.

Noticing that kingfishers barely make a splash when diving into water to catch fish, Nakatsu designed a roughly 15-metre-long steel beak for the high-speed trains, to reduce the tunnel boom that occurred when the trains exited a tunnel. Not only did it solve the noise pollution issue, it also increased the efficiency of the Shinkansen by 10 to 15 per cent.

Nakatsu also redesigned the shape of the trains pantograph to mimic an owls wings, including feather-like noise-dampening serrations along the pantographs wing, to break up the rushing air turbulence.

At the University of South Australia (UniSA), researchers have also been looking to nature, studying the surfaces of plants and animal species that have been found to be highly resistant to microbial attack due to their unique structure at the nanoscale.

They used this research to develop innovative dental implants that are resistant to microbial infection.

Our work has focused on mimicking structures found on the wings of insects, which contain billions of nanopillars that operate as a nanomechanical barrier to bacterial colonisation, said lead UniSA researcher,Professor Krasi Vasilev.

The structure mechanically kills the same broad range of bacteria known to cause orthopaedic and dental implant infections, which can lead to the failure of the procedure.

The researchers recently teamed up with medical technology company, ANISOP Holdings, with the goal of translating the nanoengineering concepts into reality.

They say the new dental implants could prevent infections before they become serious or potentially life-threatening problems, with the potential to save millions of dollars globally.

Over in the UK, researchers at Durham University have engineered the first manufactured non-cuttable material, using abalone shells and grapefruit skins as inspiration.

The [abalone] shell is 2000 times harder to crack than the bricks that its made of, said Stefan Szyniszewski, a Durham University engineering professor who was part of the research team.

When you think of security doors or armoured steel, its very heavy. And if you look at protective structures in nature, like the peel of a grapefruit, theyre usually very light.

Inspired by these strong yet lightweight biological structures, researchers developed a metallic cellular structure composed of an internal grid of large ceramic segments. The resulting material was both highly deformable and ultraresistant to dynamic point loads; found to be non-cuttable by an angle grinder and a power drill.

Potential applications for the new material range from personal protective equipment, bike locks and lightweight armour to the doors of a vault in a bank.

While the term biomimicry was coined in 1997, using nature as inspiration can be seen in designs dating back much earlier.

For example, in 1941 Swiss engineer George de Mestral found small burrs covering his dogs fur after a hunting expedition, and was intrigued by the way the burrs were able to defy gravity.

Examining the tiny hooks under a microscope, de Mestral noticed the burrs interlocking mechanism, and was inspired to mimic the structure as a fastener for clothing.

He patented his idea in 1948, and Velcro has since become a household name.

The list goes on

From architecture inspired by termite mounds to sports cars modelled on sailfish, nature as design inspiration can be seen in many innovations.

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From birds to burrs, here are four examples of biomimicry at work - create digital

Amid growing evidence of airborne transmission of COVID-19, the work of one New Brunswick researcher could become an important tool to help prevent the spread of the virus.

Felipe Chibante, a professor of chemical engineering at the University of New Brunswick, is working on a face mask that would not only trap the coronavirus, it would kill it.

He says that same technology could eventually lead to air filters that would do the same thing on a larger scale for homes and office buildings.

The key is to use tiny particles of virus-killing material to make the masks.

Incorporating such metals into a face mask "at the nano-scale is very effective at killing airborne pathogens," he said.

Chibante is one of several New Brunswick researchers to receive money for COVID-19-related projects.

In March, the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, in partnership with the New Brunswick Health Research Foundation (NBHRF), launched a COVID-19 Research Fund and invited researchers to apply which they did in droves.

They received 60 applications and requests for $2.3 million in funding, which was more money than they had available.

That's when the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) stepped in to provide more funding. In total, 27 projects across the province have been approved to the tune of $846,707.

As people and governments debate whether to make face masks mandatory, a growing body of scientific and anecdotal evidence suggests airborne transmission may be important in spreading the virus.

In an open letter published earlier this month, 239 scientists from 32 countries called on the World Health Organization to acknowledge that airborne transmission of the coronavirus is a potential driver of the pandemic.

The WHO had long maintained that the virus is spread by large droplets, but recently acknowledged the possibility of airborne transmission, saying it cannot be ruled out.

Those developments aren't lost on Chibante, who says airborne transmission makes the use of masks even more important.

Chibante, whose background includes working with nano-particles in the development of clean energy, says the first step in the project is to create nano-coatings capable of killing airborne pathogens, like the virus that causes COVID-19.

That material would then be incorporated into the mask itself and help filter out particles.

Chibante and his team will be working with several metals that have already proven their antibacterial and antiviral properties. Copper for example, has long been known to disrupt or kill pathogens, which include bacteria, viruses, or other microorganisms that can cause disease.

Silver is another possibility, although only when reduced to nano-size. Chibante explained that the properties of some metals, like silver, change when reduced and they become "the enemy of viruses."

Chibante's team will be working with the Sabian cymbal company of Meductic, which will provide some of the metal material that his team will "nano-ize" for the project.

Sabian offered to supply the raw material for the project, explained chief operating officer Mike Connell.

In fact, the company approached the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation early on in the pandemic to explore ways it could help in the global fight against COVID-19.

After all, company officials were already aware of the antiviral potential of copper, said Connell.

They had a lot of copper sitting around and business had dropped off as a result of the pandemic, he said.

"We thought there might be potential for high touch-point items made of copper alloys because of its disinfectant properties."

Connell said they wondered about whether copper could be incorporated into face masks. They were just tossing around ideas at the time, and he said they're pleased to leave the scientific part of the project to the experts.

He said they initially handed over a supply of the exact same material used for making cymbals a combination of copper and tin and will create different combinations of metals if asked to do so as the project progresses.

Once an effective coating is developed, it will be incorporated into the mask itself. That way, when viruses are trapped in the mask's filtration system, it doesn't continue to live there.

"We know that COVID can hang around for a long time," he explained. "So now you have a mask that's a biohazard, and you have to dispose of it, and there's hundreds of millions of masks in Canada that we're processing as biohazard. And so the idea was, can we do something that would actually kill the virus once it landed on the mask?"

Chibante said being able to destroy the virus eliminates the argument some people have made about masks being harmful to the wearer. A COVID-killing maskwill not only protect other people, but will protect the person wearing it, he said.

"So it's community hygiene as opposed to individual hygiene," said Chibante.

Eventually, he hopes toeliminate another complaint of mask-haters bymaking them see-through to allow for better communication.

As an added phase to the project, he's using his work in the energy sector to create a self-sanitizing feature for the masks. Since pathogens can usually be destroyed at temperatures above 60 Celsius, he envisions using tiny electrical systems to create enough heat in the mask to destroy anything that wasn't already killed on contact with the anti-viral coating. He says it could be as easy as plugging the mask into a USB port to activate what could be thought of as "nano-zappers."

"By engineering and controlling those electrical properties, we can actually be able to heat up the mask internally where all the action is. We don't want to just blow hot air into it. We want to have it, you know, almost like a little toaster element inside your mask."

Chibante says the technology could eventually be expanded for use in air-exchange systems in homes and commercial buildings.

"It's the same kind of principle where you have an airborne pathogen and you want to remove it, and you don't want to be just changing your filters every day. You want to reuse that filter for a period of time. So we see this being able to extend beyond just personal protection equipment but to, you know, commercial systems."

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UNB professor working on a mask that would kill the coronavirus - CBC.ca

MARINA DEL REY, Calif. (PRWEB) August 06, 2020

Fast Company announced its 11th annual list of the Most Creative People in Business, honoring Bite Toothpaste Bits CEO and Founder, Lindsay McCormick among an influential and diverse group of leaders from a vast range of global industries.

The Most Creative People in Business list recognizes individuals who used their innovative thinking to make an impact on the world beyond financial success. These engineers, executives, choreographers, activists, designers, journalists, and founders have created something new this year within their field thats never been done before in their industries. Many achieved these societal problem-solving accomplishments in one of the most contentious and erratic times in history.

Im honored to be included in such an inspiring group of people, all working to create meaningful and impactful change in our world, said McCormick. "There has never been a more important time for us to come together to find new and innovative solutions to our environmental problems. I never set out to create a business, but the success of what we've grown at Bite has give me the power to share my story and the urgency to save our planet. We've only just begun... said McCormick.

As Bites CEO and Founder, Lindsay McCormick started Bite in her living room after learning about the one billion plastic toothpaste tubes that end up in our landfills and oceans every year. Once a social media video went viral, sales skyrocketed overnight and McCormick quit her full-time job to launch Bite into a multimillion company. McCormicks love of the planet, urgency to make a difference, and personal mission to create sustainable solutions to products we use every day has now become Bites mission.

Since Bites inception in 2018, the company has become a trailblazer in the sustainability and personal care space with its innovative and plastic-free products made with the planet in mind. From creating the first-ever toothpaste tablet with nano-hydroxyapatite (nHAP) to Bites recent launch of 100% compostable and plant-based dental floss, McCormicks team is working to make conscious consumerism an unconscious decision.

Fast Company editors and writers spent a year researching candidates for the list, scouting every business sector: social good, medical, technology, engineering, marketing, entertainment, startups, and more. The people selected have all accomplished something truly innovative within the past 12 months or so that is having a measurable effect within their industries and beyond. Theyre also discoveriesnone has ever been profiled in Fast Company in print before. Together, they represent the future of business.

Each year, we recognize artists and conventionally creative people making their mark on business and corporate executives deploying creativity and innovation to address some of the biggest challenges facing businesses and society, says Stephanie Mehta, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. Individually and collectively, the Most Creative People are an inspiration.

To see the complete list, go to: https://www.fastcompany.com/most-creative-people/2020Introduced in 2009, the Most Creative People list was quickly established as one of Fast Companys most esteemed franchises. Each year, the magazines editors present an all-new list of people chosen according to a proprietary methodology.

Fast Companys Most Creative People in Business issue (September 2020) is available online now at https://www.fastcompany.com/most-creative-people/2020 and on newsstands beginning August 11, 2020. Join the Most Creative People conversation using #FCMostCreative.

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Lindsay McCormick of Bite Toothpaste Bits Named in Fast Company's Annual List of the Most Creative People in Business - PR Web