People have been turning to nature for inspiration to help them solve problems for millions of years. From buildings and bridges to materials and medicine – examining the design of nature has aided in the development of almost every aspect of our lives, and most of us – often without realizing – benefit from these inspired revelations several times a day. This design concept is most commonly known as biomimicry. Designers, scientist, and engineers continue to study the complex structures found in nature to create greener and more efficient products and process for our homes and lives. In 2005 leading biomimicry expert Janine Benyus founded the Biomimicry Institute to give people the resources they needed to further their studies and understanding. Read on to learn more about how nature has inspired some truly innovative new products.

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Post tags: "wind power", African termite mounds, arup associates, biomimicry, Biomimicry Institute, Biomimicry of Termite Mounds, biomimicry solution, biomimicry techniques, Biomimicry: Design Inspiration From Nature, bioStream, blade design, Butterfly Wing biomimicry, butterfly wings, COM-BAT, design from nature, design inspiration from nature, eco design, fish swimming patterns, George de Mestral, green design, Janine Benyus, Mick Pearce, nature design, nature inspired design, Qualcomm, quantum dot solar cell, quantum dot solar cells, renewable energy, solar powered plane, solar-powered spy plane, spy plane, Termite Mounds, tidal power, veer, velcro, velcro burs, Whalepower, whales, wind turbines, wind turbines X wind power

The decline in bee populations has been all the buzz lately, which led Whole Foods Market to team up with the Xerces Society to show us what a world—or at least, produce section—without bees would look like. The University Heights, Rhode Island store removed all foods that are reliant upon the important pollinators, and it leaves a pretty slim selection; 52% of the produce department’s offerings would be pulled from shelves without bees around to help.

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Post tags: bee pollinated food, bee pollination, bee population, eco design, green design, sustainable design, University Heights Whole Foods, whole foods, Xerces

London may be getting its own version of the High Line park along the River Thames. The team of Erect Architecture and J&L Gibbons landscape architects were chosen in a competition organized by RIBA and Vauxhall One. Their design combines a lush elevated promenade with a series of temporary installations, acting as both a commuting route and cultural attraction for locals and tourists.

Read the rest of London Plans a High Line-Style Park for the River Thames

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Post tags: eco design, Elevated park London, Erect Architecture, green design, high line park, J&L Gibbons, redeveloped Battersea Power Station, river thames, sustainable design, Vauxhall Pleasure Garden

In a warming world, every gas-powered vehicle contributes to CO2 emissions. California-based Cool Planet Energy not only believes they have a low-cost alternative to gasoline, but one that is actually carbon negative. They have developed a biofuel that is chemically identical to gasoline, but costs only $1.50 a gallon without the aid of government subsidy, and they just received $30 million out of their $100 million goal to fund the first commercial facility.

Read the rest of Cool Planet Energy’s Carbon Negative Biofuel Costs Just $1.50 Per Gallon

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Post tags: biofuel, BP, California, carbon negative, CO2, Conoco Phillips, constellation energy, cool planet energy, GE, global warming, Google, gride, low carbon fuel standard, miscanthus, mountain view

Read the rest of Plasma Studio’s Crystalline Xi’An Greenhouse Sparkles in the Sun

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Post tags: Air quality, Architecture, Botanical, china, Daylighting, faceted, glazed, greenhouse, plants, PLASMA Studio, xi'an

For his new “Public Room” exhibition, artist Giuseppe Licari transformed the Hommes Gallery in Rotterdam into an indoor park – complete with a large grassy lawn, small trees, and even birds. The installation inverts the common understanding of indoors as private and outdoors as public. People are invited to enter and engage in activities that would normally take place in an outdoor public park. Visitors can lie in the grass, read a book, enjoy an espresso or chill with friends. During the installation, the Hommes Gallery will host a weekly program of events that will explore how urban ecology is associated with the social, cultural and economic tactics of survival within various communities.

+ Giuseppe Licari

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Post tags: Galerie Hommes, Giuseppe Licari, holland, Hommes Gallery, indoor park, Netherlands, parks, Public Room, rotterdam, urban park

Read the rest of 1012 Terra’s Modern Terrariums Suspend Plants in Mid-Air

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Post tags: 1012 Terra, Daisuke Tsumanuma, eco design, green design, Kenichi Yamada, sustainable design, terrarium

Read the rest of Atlanta Botanical Garden’s Edible Garden & Outdoor Kitchen Connect Visitors with Food

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Post tags: "botanical garden", Atlanta, Atlanta Botanical Garden, cooking classes, edible garden, garden, Gardening, local food, outdoor kitchen, sustainable food, vertical garden, vertical herb garden, vertical wall

A new generation of gardeners are interested in growing their own food, and The Patch, a new self-watering planter, helps guide newbies through the process. The planter, which is designed for urban gardeners, solves the most common challenge for novice gardeners: over-watering. The Patch Planter is an easy, self-watering and flat-packable planter that addresses this issue by providing the plant with the perfect amount of water at all times — yielding more nutritious and delicious food. The planter is currently in the beta stage, but Let’s Patch is raising funds through Kickstarter to take its manufacturing process to the next level.

+ Let’s Patch

+ Let’s Patch on Kickstarter

The article above was submitted to us by an Inhabitat reader. Want to see your story on Inhabitat? Send us a tip by following this link. Remember to follow our instructions carefully to boost your chances of being chosen for publishing!

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Post tags: herbs, kickstarter, Let's Patch, Patch planters, self-watering planter, The Patch, vancouver, vegetables

As long as industry and infrastructure relies on oil to function, there will be spills. Cleaning up such disasters, like the recent Mayflower, Arkansas rupture, can be costly and time consuming. Even the chemicals that are used to disperse and absorb the crude can be dangerous to the environment, and researchers have long been looking for greener alternatives. A new study finds that raw, unprocessed cotton may be a cheaper and safer way to soak up oil than synthetics.

Read the rest of Raw, Unprocessed Cotton Can Be Used to Clean Up Oil Spills

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Post tags: arkansas, barley straw, ch foundation, cotton, cotton incorporated, industrial & engineering chemistry research, kapok, low micronaire, mayflower, oil spill, seshadri ramkumar, unprocessed, West Texas, wool

One of the top urban gardening solutions to debut at ICFF this year is the modular KiGA by Hurbz Vegetable Spirit. Designed as a kitchen garden for urban homes, the four different modules can be configured two ways — either lining a wall or grouped together in a cluster. The four-level garden brings the benefit fresh vegetables and herbs to any household with ease and style, to fit any space.

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Post tags: eco design, green design, Hurbz, Hurbz Vegetable Spirit, ICFF, KiGA kitchen garden, modular garden, sustainable design, urban gardening

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Post tags: eco design, green design, ICFF, indoor gardening, Opiary, planter table, recyclable material, sustainable design, urban garden

Many people bemoan the fact that they can’t grow their own food (or even flowers) because they lack any kind of garden space, but guess what? You can actually grow more than you realize in really small areas as long as they get a bit of direct sun. Hell, you can even grow things indoors under a lamp, but there’s something special about plucking your own food from a stalk that’s been sitting in summer sunshine all day. In any case, whether you have a little concrete slab behind your house, a fire escape outside your window, or even a tiny balcony, your urban garden can be a veritable Eden of fresh, healthy, home-grown vegetables, and herbs.

Read the rest of DIY: How to Plant a Personal Garden In a Small Urban Space

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Post tags: balcony garden, companion planting, food, herbs, Organic vegetables, patio garden, patio gardening, self sufficiency, tomatoes, urban food gardening, urban food solution, urban garden, urban gardening, vegetables

Japanese artist and landscape designer Mineo Mizuno grows moss on large ceramic pebble-like spheres, creating beautiful sculptures that forge a symbiotic relationship between materials. Inspired by his native Japan, the Brooklyn-based artist designs miniature landscapes, complete with highlands and valleys, grass and forests. The pieces are part of a series called “Coexistence.”

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Post tags: Art, art horticulture, art installation, ceramic sculptures, eco art installation, green art, green sculptures, Japanese designers, Japanese landscape art, Mineo Mizuno, Mineo Mizuno Coexistence, moss sculptures, pebble art

Read the rest of Hiroshima’s Optical Glass House Hides a Secret Garden Behind its Glazed Façade

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", Architecture, Botanical, Daylighting, glass, glass bricks, glazed facade, Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP Co. Ltd, Hiroshima, Japan, Optical Glass House

Have you hugged a tree lately? If not, you might want to show your appreciation with a good squeeze. According to a recent state-by-state US Forest Service study, urban forests are responsible for storing 708 million tons of carbon – a service valued at $50 billion. Each year, our leafy friends capture an additional 21 million tons of carbon to the tune of a $1.5 billion benefit. Led by Dave Nowak, the study was published in the journal Environmental Pollution.

Read the rest of Study Finds US Urban Trees Provide $50 Billion in Economic Value

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Post tags: america, arbor day foundation, carbon, dave nowak, envrironmental pollution, eric greenfield, florida, georgia, massachussetts, north carolina, sequestration, texas, tom tidwell, Trees, urban forest, US, us forest service

Why use a light bulb to illuminate your home when you could just fill it with glowing plants? That’s the question asked by Antony Evans, the head of a team of bio-engineers in San Francisco, California. The team has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a project that will use the glowing genes from fireflies and bacteria to create plants that shine. By using synthetic biology and Genome Compiler software, the have already managed to modify Arabidopsis plants, and they’re working on glowing roses.

Read the rest of Glowing Plant Project Creates Bioluminescent Plants for Natural Lighting

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Post tags: antony eveans, arabidopsis, bioengineer, California, CO2, gene, genome compiler, glowing plant, kickstarter, luciferase, rose, San Francisco, seeds

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Post tags: albert comper, australia, christian dior, firearm, january biannual, loreal, Nature, organic material, RMIT University, sonia rentsch, violence, weapons

Read the rest of Roel de Boer Imagines a Utopian City Filled with Treehouse Pods

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Post tags: Architecture, Botanical, city of trees, dutch design, pod, recycled cardboard, Roel de Boer, tiny homes, treehouse, Treehouses

When it comes to capturing solar energy, plants are first in their class. Able to function at nearly 100 percent quantum efficiency, they can produce an equal number of electrons for each photon captured. Using these photons to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, the resulting electrons are able to create sugars that help the plant to live and reproduce. Researchers at the University of Georgia have developed a way to harness the power of the photosynthetic process to generate a clean form of electricity. Ramaraja Ramasamy, assistant professor in the UGA College of Engineering, explained how his team manipulated the biology for human advantage.

Read the rest of Scientists Discover Methods of Harvesting Electricity from Plants

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Post tags: "clean energy", carbon nanotubules, electrons, journal of energy and environmental science, photon, photosynthesis, plants, quantum efficiency, ramaraja ramasamy, Solar Power, sun, thylakoids, uga college of engineering, University of Georgia, water issues