Architect Mick Pearce collaborated with engineers at Arup Associates to build a mid-rise building in Harare, Zimbabwe that has no air-conditioning, yet stays cool thanks to a termite-inspired ventilation system. The Eastgate building is modeled on the self-cooling mounds of Macrotermes michaelseni, termites that maintain the temperature inside their nest to within one degree of 31 °C, day and night, - while the external temperature varies between 3 °C and 42 °C. Eastgate uses only 10 percent of the energy of a conventional building its size, saved 3.5 million in air conditioning costs in the first five years, and has rents that are 20% lower than a newer building next door.

The TERMES project, organized by Rupert Soar of Loughborough University, is digitally scanning termite mounds to map the three dimensional architecture in a level of detail never achieved before. This computer model will help scientists understand exactly how the tunnels and air conduits manage to exchange gases, maintain temperature, and regulate humidities. The designs may provide a blueprint for self-regulating human buildings.

A three-dimensional logarithmic spiral is found in the shells of mollusks, in the spiraling of tidal-washed kelp fronds, and in the shape of our own skin pores, through which water vapor escapes. Liquids and gases flow centripetally through these geometrically consistent flow forms with far less friction and more efficiency. PAX Scientific (USA) has designed fans, propellers, impellers, and aerators based on this shape.

Computational Fluid Dynamics and Particle Image Velocimetry tests showed the technology's streamlining effect can reduce energy requirements in fans and other rotors from between 10 and 85%, depending upon the application; the fan blade design also reduces noise by up to 75%. The first air-handling products scheduled for release are fans in computers, auto air-conditioners, and kitchen range hoods. The PAX streamlining principle could also lead to improvements in industrial mixers, water pumps, marine propellers, and devices for circulating blood in the body.

Learning How to Clean From a Leaf

Have you ever wondered how things in nature generally look so clean? You don't see janitors out there in the woods, afterall, dusting off the trees. People use toxic detergents and costly cleaning treatments, but Nature employs a cleaning strategy as environmentally benign and energy efficient as it is strikingly ingenious. Imagine waking up, stepping outside, shaking your body a little bit, and heading off to your daily routine as clean as if you'd taken a shower. Because that's how Nature cleans; it takes what might be called a gravity shower. The leaves of many plants, large-winged insects, most water birds, and other organisms capitalize on basic physical characteristics in the way surfaces of materials interact, achieving cleanliness effortlessly and without detergents.

On the underside of the Red Abalone (Haliotis Rufescens) shell is a remarkable iridescent ceramic that is twice as tough as our high-tech ceramics. Mother-of-pearl, also called nacre, is composed of alternating layers of calcium carbonate (in a special crystal form called aragonite) and Lustrin-A protein. The combination of hard and elastic layers gives nacre remarkable toughness and strength, allowing the material to slide under compressive force. The “bricks” of calcium carbonate are offset, and this brick-wall architecture stops cracks from propagating. Several groups have mimicked nacre’s structure, using materials such as aluminum and titanium alloy to create a metal laminate tough enough for armor.