One of the highlights of the sustainable urban block charrette was Chris Allen's presentation of the latest work from the Biomimcry Institute.
First there's the forthcoming book: Nature's 100 Best Innovations
...the shortlist of one hundred technologies that are all inspired by proven design systems from Nature. This summary is only a small component of this long-term research project that aims to identify key technologies that will help society and industry to leapfrog towards sustainability.
And then there's the database, Ask Nature -- "the world's first interactive database of Nature's solutions to sustainability challenges, where relevant biological information is searchable by design and engineering function" -- coming in November.
Millions of species. Innumerable technological ideas. One database.
I can barely wait! Woo-Hoo!