Biomimicry: Nature as model, measure and mentor

Several years ago, I picked up a book called Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature by Janine Benyus. Biomimicry was a term I’d not heard of before and I was intrigued. Benyus invented the term to describe a new discipline that studies nature’s best ideas and then imitates these designs and processes to solve human problems. A nature writer and champion of nature-inspired innovation, Benyus defines the quest of biomimicry as “the conscious emulation of life’s genius. Innovation inspired by nature.” Examples include:

energy efficient buildings inspired by the passive cooling of termite mounds
• non-toxic fabric finishes inspired by water-repellant lotus plants
• durable and resistant materials based on spider silk
• biomimetic robot designs based on animal and insect anatomy

Climate Change—Part Three: The Dark "Optimism" of James Lovelock

“Climate science maverick James Lovelock believes catastrophe is inevitable, carbon offsetting is a joke and ethical living a scam,” says Decca Aitkenhead in an article in the Guardian. When Aitkenhead asked the 88-year old scientist what he would do, Lovelock replied—rather pithily, I might add: “Enjoy life while you can. Because if you're lucky it's going to be 20 years before it hits the fan."

“Lovelock has been dispensing predictions from his one-man laboratory in an old mill in Cornwall since the mid-1960s, the consistent accuracy of which have earned him a reputation as one of Britain's most respected - if maverick - independent scientists,” says Aitkenhead. “[Lovelock] introduced the Gaia Hypothesis, a revolutionary theory that the Earth is a self-regulating super-organism. Initially ridiculed by many scientists as new age nonsense, today that theory forms the basis of almost all climate science.”

His latest book, The Revenge of Gaia, predicts extreme weather will be the norm, causing global devastation by 2020; and that much of Europe will be Saharan by 2040; and parts of London will be underwater. The most recent Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report reflects some of 88-year old Lovelock’s predictions.

Meme: five old posts (looking back)

Ilker Yoldas, over at The Thinking Blog, kindly tagged me with this 5 old posts meme, so for my Friday Feature I’d like to present a small history of…your guessed it… my Friday Features (which incidentally represent the areas of my blog, which include 1.environment; 2.literature; 3.blogger/celebrity interview & review; 4. science & technology; and 5. science fiction/writing. It’s sometimes hard to believe that I only started this blog a few months ago. I’ve posted over 75 posts and met over 7,000 terrific people. So, here are my five:

1. “What’s Your Ecotype?” -- This was my first Friday Feature (May 11) and showcased Ian Parnell’s challenging and instructional blog on the environment. Ian is an environmental scientist with lots of practical knowledge and provides a lot of sound and practical advice on environmental stewardship that can be taken in doses most of us can handle. Oh, and by the way…what IS your ecotype? Take the quiz here!

2. “Banned Books: How many did YOU read?” -- this post (May 25) featured the Forbidden Library of Janet Yanosko. Her library boils overfull with an oozing cornucopia of 'demoralizing', 'blasphemous', 'racial', 'offensive', 'obscene', 'anti-Communist', 'Satanic', and 'anarchistic' literature. Ah, yes, you say! How subversive. Check it out! Its librarian, Janet Yanosko, has indexed books by author and title with explanation of why the book was banned along with her own amusing rather pithy remarks. Find out what forbidden books YOU’VE read here!

3. “ ‘Make it so!’ says Jean-Luc Picard” -- this was my first abduction (June 8) of a blogger/celebrity for a Friday Feature interview and I had a lot to learn as Jean-Luc deftly navigated my challenging questions and drank all my coffee! Join Jean-Luc on his continuing adventures aboard the USS Enterprise along with his wacky crew. Jean-Luc provides entertaining journal installments almost daily; he’s indeed a prolific writer! Check his latest journal entry here.

4. “Ilker, the Thinking Alien & Aurora Borealis”(June 22) -- Of course she’s totally gone and redesigned her site (which is fabulous) but I was initially drawn to the thinking alien (the one featured in the thinking blogger badge everyone covets) that graced her original blog design. Ilker’s site is rated one of the top 100 blogs and is described as “more than just a source of amusing facts and interesting information. It is a stream of consciousness intended to be succinct and thought provoking. A cornucopia of eclectic topics; from exciting ideas to cultural curiosities.” It is also well researched and truly compelling; go check out what’s on Ilker’s mind now.

5. “SF Writer” -- I featured the hugely gargantuan website of Canadian SF writer, Robert J. Sawyer (August 10) and gave him a great ride aboard my ship too!...Or did he give me a ride?... Okay, not only is it HUGE, but Rob’s website is an incredible resource of material for beginning writers looking for answers for anything from manuscript formatting to landing an agent. He also has information and links to some great articles on futurism, marketing, the science fiction genre, Canadian SF, and his own books. Go amble through his rich thicket of resources here.

And, like Ilker says, it’s bad karma to break a meme, so I tag the following five people with the challenge to do the same: Deborah; Joel; Peggy K; TekSavvy; and Markk.

My New Car?

Here's the car my husband wants me to get--when I sell millions of copies of my upcoming book and can afford it, that is...

General Motors has a new concept car, called the "Volt" which is an electric car roughly the same size as the Chevrolet Cobalt, but can run entirely on electricity! "The car plugs into any 3-pronged wall socket and fully charges in about 6 hours", says CanWest News Service. "It runs on high-tech lithium ion batteries, the same technology used in digital cameras." On one 6-hour charge my car and I can travel more than 60 km. That's an electricity rate of 10 cents per kilowatt hour. The Volt also houses a one-litre 3-cylinder turbo gasoline engine that acts like a generator burning fuel to power the car's battery. In "alternative run mode" one 45-litre tank of fuel can take me more than 1,000 km--enough to go to Calgary and back! The car accelerates like a Cobalt, says CanWest News, though that doesn't help me (because I don't know what a Cobalt can do). Plus the Volt can go to up to 160 km/hr. Which doesn't phase me...my current car, Norman, can't go faster than 50 km/hr, or he has a case of the palsies. Time for a new car...only hitch is the Volt is still on "promise" mode. Besides, it is a Chevrolet. And look at it...It doesn't have a "face".