Nature as design guidelines and blueprints

Sadly, I have to admit that the idea of using nature as a guide and blueprint for solving problems had not dawned on me til very recently. I can say with high levels of confidence that the civil engineering courses that I participated in did not promote this idea. It was more important to get the math right than to design the solution correctly.

Nature has been solving the same problems that we (humans) face each and every day. For instance, how do I build a durable shelter from the elements while still remaining cool in the summer and warm in the winter? How does one purify water? How is solar radiation harvested for power?

Some people, however, have figured out how to follow nature's blueprints.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/packaging-you-can-eat.html

Fruit often comes in an "edible packaging" and people like David Edwards are developing the same thing for other foods.

Janine Benyus gets it. She talks about biomimicry - a new discipline that learns and takes design advice from the planet.

http://www.ted.com/talks/janine_benyus_biomimicry_in_action.html