marjan eggermont

life in a parallel universe:

the biocene

Biomimicry is design for the long term and a practice that learns from and mimics the strategies found in nature to solve human design challenges.¹ As part of a number of collaborative paths to a sustainable future such as a circular economy, doughnut economics, and regenerative design,² biomimicry can teach us design strategies by looking at how, for example, nature stores carbon, cycles water, harvests energy, regulates temperature, builds and protects soil, and enhances well-being.³ We can design our cities to function as forests. We can start measuring eco performance standards in cities in an effort to determine how much soil the system is building, how much pollination happens, how much wildlife is able to pass. I have taught biomimicry as a design philosophy and methodology since 2004 to over twelve thousand engineering students.⁴ And since 2012, I have designed and published the open-source, bio-inspired design journal Zygote Quarterly, with co-founders Tom McKeag and Norbert Hoeller, with thirty-five issues released to date.⁵ The journal resulted in an invitation to present at Biocene, a series of conferences that together offer a proposal for a post-Anthropocene period in which humanity has a small window of opportunity to repair the damage done to Earth’s ecosystem. This proposal is the result of six years of collaboration, which started with the goal of “Nature-Inspired Exploration on Earth and in Space for the Benefit of All Life” (to quote NASA’s mission statement for the project). Now known as NASA VINE (Virtual Interchange for Nature-Inspired Exploration),⁶ its initial objectives were to establish a convergence of practitioners, disciplines, bio-inspired philosophy, tools, and research to fulfill NASA’s missions through nature-inspired exploration on Earth and in space for the benefit of all life through the following:

• Bringing awareness of NASA’s mission to biomimicry/bionics/biophysics and related communities.
• Bringing awareness of and providing access to biomimetic resources including subject-matter experts, research, and collaboration tools.
• Developing a biomimetic framework for healthy, relevant, and sustainable biomimicry collaboration between NASA, academia, industry, and other agencies.

The following is a brief historical overview of NASA’s bio-inspired design connections and examples of biomimicry and space.

nasa & bio-inspired design: a short history

Nature has been a source for design ideas and engineering principles since the Stone Age, possibly earlier, with our toolmaking as an example. Many early flying machines were modelled after flying animals, including Leonardo da Vinci’s designs of 1505 (bats), Clément Ader’s “Ader Éole” of 1890 (flying foxes), and the Etrich Dove of 1913.

Riblets and asymmetric nose cones of sharks and leading-edge combs of birds have contributed to drag reduction, and the filleted surface intersections of many fishes have been used as designs to quiet submarines.

The concept of mimicking natural systems was originally called bionics or biomimetics and is firmly rooted in engineering. In 1957, Otto Schmidt, a pioneer in biomedical engineering, developed the concept of a “biomimetic” approach to science and engineering. In this context biomimetics is the study of the formation, structure, or function of biologically produced substances and materials (such as enzymes or silk) and biological mechanisms and processes (such as protein synthesis or photosynthesis), especially for the purpose of synthesizing similar products by artificial mechanisms that mimic natural ones. A year later Jack Steele coined the term “bionics,” which had a similar definition to that of “biomimetics”: the study of biological organisms to find solutions to engineering problems.⁷

NASA, as can be seen in the figure opposite, has a long history of studying biological organisms, and in the 1991 report Engineering Derivatives from Biological Systems for Advanced Aerospace Applications,⁸ it lists the following benefits:

1. Through natural selection, evolutionary pressures result in biological systems (be they structural, sensory, neural, or motor) that conserve material and energy. The resulting small, lightweight, energy efficient (and frequently multifunctional systems should be of obvious interest for aerospace designs where these are critical design parameters.
2. The performance of biological systems is robust and adaptable, and this characteristic feature is typically not environment dependent.
3. As biological research progresses, there is evidence that many basic principles are employed and adapted by many species to meet their specific functional requirements. It is these scientific principles which we seek to understand through bionics research; thus, we adapt these principles to our engineering applications (even extraterrestrial) rather than mimic nature directly.

The report concluded the following (Winfield, Hering, and Cole 1991, 1-5):

There is overwhelming evidence from past contributions and current research that natural systems engineering principles can advance space technology.

In many areas, these contributions have breakthrough potential—the natural systems’ capabilities far surpass current technology.

These bionics research efforts are inherently multidisciplinary, requiring project teams with appropriate mixes of different discipline capabilities and resources.

Furthermore, this bionics research often is not clearly separated into the traditional disciplines, but instead forms a hybrid discipline by combining previously disparate elements or disciplines. How nature has fulfilled a function, and thus how we ultimately apply this knowledge, cannot always be envisioned from previous disciplinary experience. Thus, NASA should consider internal and external mechanisms to foster and support such interdisciplinary research with widespread impact.

NASA’s efforts should be coordinated with that of other agencies and other countries to achieve maximum benefit.

More in-depth analysis is required to fully evaluate the research opportunities and to formulate projects that address relevant NASA needs. Additional workshops and other mechanisms are encouraged to more clearly elucidate the basic underlying principles in natural systems and to consider these in light of specific NASA technical challenges.

A continuation of the history of bionics programs, seen in the figure above, mentions biomimicry for the first time. Coined in 1997 by Janine Benyus, the term “biomimicry” refers, in its briefest definition, to good design inspired by nature.

It differs from bionics and biomimetics in that it is seen as more than engineering design strategies. The practice of biomimicry involves three essential elements: (re)connect, emulate, and ethos. These are defined as follows:

1. (re)connect

   The increasing awareness that humans, individually and as a species, are part of nature, not separate from it, through a deepening connection that honors the reciprocal relationship between all living beings.

2. emulate

   The scientific, research-based practice of learning from and then replicating nature’s forms, processes, and ecosystems to create more regenerative designs.

3. ethos

   The realization that humans have a responsibility to conserve and protect that which they are learning from, as well as abiding by the planetary boundaries and principles for all nature-inspired innovation.⁹

Biomimicry as part of the Biocene gatherings has opened the discussions to include diverse perspectives, equity and inclusion in space law, astrobiofuturists, and how to avoid repeating the mistakes of our colonial past. These discussions are key, especially with the amount of space missions currently planned. Many in the aerospace community believe we are at the cusp of interplanetary civilization in this decade and the next as we make more progress toward lunar settlement and moving out to Mars. New commercial space stations are being planned, like Axiom space station, as stepping stones toward lunar and Mars exploration. These are being called “near earth cocoons,” an eerily nature-based name for one of the most hostile extreme environments. The Artemis program represents NASA’s anticipated return to the Moon, including a base camp that includes a modern lunar cabin, a rover (below), and even a mobile home planned for—at the earliest—2025.¹⁰

Past, current, and additional upcoming activities on the Moon can be found at Lunar Open Architecture, an open road map for lunar exploration.¹¹ It’s an evolving database that keeps track of current and future missions for lunar exploration.

biocene stories

The discussion and the intersection between biomimetics and space is currently characterized by five large themes: materials and structures for extreme environments; persistence of life in extreme environments; guidance, navigation and communication; next-generation aeronautics and in-space propulsion; and sustainable energy conversion and power. The most interesting aspects of this intersection are the stories of nature that accompany the technical solutions being discussed. Consider this example, as told to me by Konrad Rykaczewski in an interview for a special Zygote Quarterly issue on biomimicry and space (Rykaczewski and Zhang 2017, 98–100; silently modified):

One of these goals [in aerospace] is to prevent icing of the airplane wings, which can rapidly change their shape leading to loss of lift, and airplanes dropping out of the sky. This is how about 600 aviation accidents happened in last 20 years of 20th century. Typically, this problem is combatted by spraying a large amount of antifreeze liquid on the airplane before or during flight. This process can be expensive and environmentally unfriendly, and also simply unreliable when we run out of the liquid (this is what often happens during snowstorms). So having a coating that would prevent ice from forming would have safety, environmental, and economic benefits.

Since ice can form from large, supercooled droplets, one idea is to make a coating that prevents drops from sticking to the wing. In very simplified terms, “if it can’t stick, it will not freeze.” There are numerous examples of such “superhydrophobic” plants in nature, for example the lotus leaf, the prickly pear cacti, and just plain kale that grows in my backyard. . . .

A couple of years ago I came up with a different idea while going on a jungle tour with my wife in Panama, where we saw this little poison dart frog. . . . I later found out that the frogs need to eat a specific type of ant to get the chemicals that are needed to make the poison. They synthesize it in a little gland in their dermis. To conserve the toxin, they squeeze it out onto the dermis only in response to a predator. The toxin then spreads diffusively in the mucus, that covers their body. That gave me an idea: how about squeezing out only little bit of antifreeze out of a coating to minimize the amount that is used. So back in the lab, we literally took the two-layer porous skin idea—except the “epidermis” was a porous superhydrophobic coating and inside the “dermis” was a “wick” filled with antifreeze. Droplets bounced off this coating like off a normal superhydrophobic coating, but when frost fills up the valleys, the antifreeze was released. At least in our laboratory tests this turned out to work very well, saving estimated 28 fold in antifreeze as compared to systems that continuously flood the airplane with antifreeze during flight (e.g., “weeping wing” system). We also discovered that the unique combination of hygroscopic antifreeze-filled micropores inhibited nucleation in between the pores through what we call the “integral humidity sink effect.” We are still studying this process, but overall this shows that it is often worth trying new systems, in this case inspired by nature, as one might discover unexpected beneficial processes.

Another Biocene presenter, Lyndsey McMillon-Brown, works on solar cells inspired by diatoms first made famous by Ernst Haeckel.¹² A solar cell’s performance can be enhanced if light travels a longer path and spends more time within the photoactive layer, thereby generating an electrical current before escaping the solar cell.

Diatoms, the most common type of phytoplankton found in nature, are optimized for light absorption due to their frustules, hard porous cell walls made of silica, through millions of years of adaptive evolution. Diatoms are responsible for approximately one-fifth of the production of organic compounds from carbon dioxide on Earth and make up a quarter of all plant life by weight. They began evolving in a time when carbon dioxide was scarce in the atmosphere; the silica frustules help to concentrate carbon dioxide and allow light into the organism, increasing the rate of photosynthesis and so making diatoms one of the most successful organisms on the planet. They are also an Earth-abundant source of silica that can be incorporated into polymer solar cells without the need for complicated processing. The integration of these bio-inspired nano-patterns and designs into solar cells allows for light trapping within the photoactive layer, thereby enhancing the solar cell’s absorption and power conversion efficiency.

This brings me to a third example of bio-inspired design that takes advantage of locally available resources to minimize mass and volume while launching into space. Self-Growing Habitat on Mars is a conceptual design proposal by Redhouse architecture firm and NASA researcher and astrobiologist Dr. Lynn Rothschild.¹³ The idea is to send a lightweight folded and seeded “building bag” to the red planet on an un-crewed mission. Upon landing, a rover would then supply carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and water—possibly from several large saltwater lakes under the ice in the southern polar region of the planet, not from Lowell’s Martian canals (page 81)—to feed algae within the sealed bag. The reaction creates oxygen and biomass and fills the form. Fungal mycelium is released that fuses with the dried algae to create a composite stronger than concrete, an example of myco-architecture. In addition, black fungi would be added to the bag to shield the mycelium from radiation present in space, since black fungi can survive high doses of radiation. A crewed mission takes two and a half years to arrive on Mars,¹⁴ quite a stressful two and a half years to wonder, among other things,¹⁵ whether your myco-architecture is still standing.

Redhouse is currently making composites of autotrophs¹⁶ and mycelium (on Earth) that are stronger than concrete and have materials outside the International Space Station as part of the MISSE (Materials International Space Station Experiment) program, and these are being tested for space durability. Rothschild’s team, in the meantime, is partnering with McMaster University in Canada to use its planetary simulator to test growth and functionality of materials under Martian and lunar conditions, since according to NASA, a future lunar landing site is the Moon’s south pole, which is abundant with ice that could provide a definitive water source for myco-architecture structures.

is biocene too late?

Recent news that scientists have created more energy from a fusion reaction than it took to create it suggests future uses applicable to space exploration.¹⁷ This may turn the Moon into yet another resource destination, rather than a place purely for scientific exploration. A plan is in the works to start mining helium-3 on the Moon to fuel future fusion reactors on the Earth with the promise of limitless energy and prosperity for everyone and of a world free of the threats of climate change. An additional goal is fusion propulsion, which is considered necessary to open the solar system to human settlement. This would theoretically halve travel times to Mars, or make a journey to Saturn and its moons take just two years rather than eight.

We can only hope that this is not yet another set of hollow promises to secure the billions in funding needed for some space cowboy outfit. We all remember the nine-minute joyride to the edge of space taken by Jeff Bezos in 2021. What few realize is that this trip alone created more carbon emissions than one billion people produce in their entire lifetimes. With all this increased space activity and the amount of carbon emissions it produces, fusion reactors might be too little, too late. Nonetheless, Biocene is a fantastic place to dream, and the ideas that have surfaced there will be of benefit to us on this planet, especially as our own environments become more extreme.

We are, however, on a rare blue dot, one habitable world among as many as forty billion Earth-sized planets, according to a 2013 estimate based on Kepler space mission data. And in the words of Carl Sagan, “If we ruin the earth, there is no place else to go.” The grass is not always greener on the other side—in fact, there is no grass on the other side.¹⁸

notes

1. 1. “What Is biomimicry?,” Biomimicry Institute, accessed January 10, 2023, https://biomimicry.org/what-is-biomimicry/.

2. 2. See “What Is a Circular Economy?,” Ellen MacArthur Foundation, accessed August 6, 2024, https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/circular-economy-introduction/overview; “About Doughnut Economics,” Doughnut Economics Action Lab, accessed August 6, 2024, https://doughnuteconomics.org/about-doughnut-economics; and for regenerative design, see Wahl 2016.

3. 3. The website Ask Nature (https://asknature.org/) is an excellent source to explore on these issues.

4. 4. For examples of the bio-inspired designs of my first-year engineering students, see Marjan Eggermont, “Biomimicry Drawings 2004–2010,” Issuu, December 8, 2011, https://issuu.com/eggermont/docs/io_drawing_sample.

5. 5. All can be accessed at https://zqjournal.org/.

6. 6. See “V.I.N.E.,” Glenn Research Center, NASA, accessed August 6, 2024, https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/research-and-engineering/vine/.

7. 7. On this concept, see also https://www.biokon.de/en/bionik/what-is-bionics/.

8. 8. Winfield, Hering, and Cole 1991, 1-1. A pdf of this report can be accessed at https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19920006315/downloads/19920006315.pdf.

9. 9. “What Are the 3 Essential Elements of Asking Nature?,” Ask Nature, accessed August 6, 2024, https://asknature.org/about/.

10. 10. “Lunar Living: NASA’s Artemis Base Camp Concept,” NASA, October 28, 2020, https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/2020/10/28/lunar-living-nasas-artemis-base-camp-concept/.

11. 11. “Lunar Open Architecture,” MIT Media Lab, accessed August 6, 2024, https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/loa/overview/.

12. 12. For a brief overview of her work, see https://www.nasa.gov/feature/glenn/2023/modern-history-makers-lyndsey-mcmillon-brown

13. 13. The project is discussed in Scarano 2022; see also Redhouse’s website at http://www.redhousearchitecture.org/redplanet.

14. 14. For a list of crewed Mars mission plans, see Wikipedia, s.v. “List of Crewed Mars Mission Plans,” last modified March 3, 2024, 09:25, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_crewed_Mars_mission_plans.

15. 15. For a summary of the range of outcomes of all the Mars missions to date, see Wikipedia, s.v. “List of Missions to Mars,” last modified July 12, 2024, 18:46, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_missions_to_Mars.

16. 16. An autotroph is an organism capable of synthesizing its own food from inorganic substances, using light or chemical energy.

17. 17. For an overview, see Whittington 2023.

18. 18. This remark comes from episode 4 of Sagan’s television series Cosmos. See “Heaven and Hell,” Internet Archive, accessed August 7, 2024, https://archive.org/details/cosmos4heavenandhell360p.

bibliography

Rykaczewski, K., and W. Zhang. 2017. “Aeronautics and Propulsion.” Zygote Quarterly 18: 94–111. https://zqjournal.org/editions/zq18.html.

Scarano, K. 2022. “Growing Mycelium Homes in Space.” Science Writer, January 18, 2022. https://www.thesciencewriter.org/uncharted/mycelium-homes-space.

Wahl, Daniel Christian. 2016. Designing Regenerative Cultures. Axminster, UK: Triarchy Press.

Whittington, M. R. 2023. “What Will the Fusion Breakthrough Do for Space Exploration?” The Hill, January 8, 2023. https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/3803921-what-will-the-fusion-breakthrough-do-for-space-exploration/.

Winfield, D. L., D. H. Hering, and D. Cole. 1991. Engineering Derivatives from Biological Systems for Advanced Aerospace Applications. NASA Contractor Report 177594.