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Mimic the BugsMay, 2003 Beetles and other critters can show human designers how to cool buildings, collect water in the desert, keep pipes from clogging with scale, and manage air traffic, science writer Janine Benyus told an overflow Stanford Business School audience during winter quarter. The lecture by the author of the book Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature was sponsored by the School's Center for Social Innovation. In the desert with no groundwater, the Namibian beetle stands on its head and traps water from fog on microscopic bumps on its wings, Benyus said. The bumps have smooth sides that encourage water to flow down to the tip of the bump, where it is channeled into the beetle's mouth. British engineers are now making sheets that mimic the beetle bumps to trap water for agriculture and for use on tents for refugees in desert settings. Shells of marine mollusks may hold an answer to controlling the buildup of calcium carbonate that clogs water pipes, Benyus said. A snail shell is made of calcium carbonate, but the snail can control the shell's size by releasing proteins that adhere to the growing face and tell the shell not to grow larger. A commercial product is being developed to mimic the protein mollusks use and create a biodegradable substance that could be flushed through pipes to remove scale. Benyus challenged her audience to initiate and maintain dialogues with those investigating the world through ecology, agriculture, medicine, technology, renewable energy research, and other sciences. "There is more to discover than to invent, she said."
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