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Future Now: Biomimicry and how the natural world influences technology

ASU researchers share how the future of technology can be built by looking for examples in nature

Future Now

Illustration published on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2020.


At the ASU Biomimicry Center, the interdisciplinary research hub is filled with everyone from engineers to designers. But they all have something in common, they're researchers and educators who work in their fields while trying to understand concepts, design principles and behaviors from the natural world and translate those things into usable information to further our capabilities. 

Podcast reporter Balin Overstolz-McNair spoke to two of these researchers: Hamid Marvi and Konrad Rykaczewski, both from the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy. Marvi uses biomimicry, or bio-inspired design, in soft robotics to understand movement and the basic physics of animals to then apply that to robots for medical, search and rescue or exploratory purposes. Rykaczewski studies materials and surfaces and recently published research explaining how Arizona rattlesnakes are able to collect water on their scales.


Previous episodes:

Future Now: How 3D printing is changing the way we build

Future Now: Blockchain and the Internet of Things


Reach the reporter at boversto@asu.edu and follow on Twitter @boversto_asu 

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