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San Diego Zoo Biomimicry

 

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Experience Nature at the San Diego Zoo

Innovation often begins by taking a fresh approach, thinking outside the box. What better environment for creativity than up close and personal with our plants and animals? We offer a variety of workshops tailored to academic and corporate audiences. Contact us or visit our website to learn more.


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San Diego Zoo Global Biomimicry

December 2011 Newsletter


TEDxSanDiego
The World in Our Grasp

TEDxResizedOn December 3, San Diego Zoo Global brought a feature exhibit to TEDxSanDiego. In addition, Zoo Educator, Peter Gilson, introduced biomimicry on stage showcasing the unique adaptations two San Diego Zoo Animal Ambassadors. The interactive exhibit showcased an Inspired-by-Nature table filled with plant and animal biofacts and a Biomimicry-in-Action table with various technologies including a gecko-inspired adhesive demonstration direct from discoverer of gecko adhesion, Dr. Robert Full of UC Berkeley. 

See TEDxSanDiego Photos

Explore Bioinspiration at UC Berkeley


Growth in Bio-Inspired Innovation

da vinci larger

Research in biomimicry continues to grow on a global scale, from an award-winning invention inspired by the Stenocara beetle to an "insanely fast" rolling robot caterpillar.  As a recent Fast Company article pointed out, "The most recent update of the Da Vinci index, released in the third quarter of 2011, shows an eleven-fold increase in the incidence of biomimicry in the research pipeline since 2000, the baseline year of the index."  

Read more about the growing metrics of the Da Vinci IndexAdditional news, research, and events available at the San Diego Zoo Biomimicry website


Bringing Bioinspiration to the Classroom

skink

The San Diego Zoo Education Department has developed a new classroom program to engage and inspire students in STEM disciplines. The pilot program will introduce the concept of biomimicry to 7th and 8th grade students with a biomimicry-themed animal presentation and interactive activities. 

For high school students, the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research has developed an introductory biomimicry module paired with a behind-the-scenes tour of our research facilities. 

To learn more about these and other biomimicry education programs offered at San Diego Zoo Global, please contact us


Inspired in Winter
The Secret Lives of Snowflakes

Biomimicry Snowflakes
Courtesy: National Science Foundation

'Tis the season! The San Diego Zoo began our annual Jungle Bells festivities with something rarely experienced in San Diego... snow. Giant pandas Bai Yun and Yun Zi were treated to a true winter wonderland when their exhibit was dusted in a layer of snow. It's a sight not often seen in Southern California so we did a little exploring into the nature of snow. Snowflakes, or snow crystals, form when water vapor condenses directly into ice. A snow crystal's life begins at the first freezing of a small ice particle. This then grows into a hexagonal prism that eventually sprouts arms. Each arm experiences many different temperatues in the cloud and thus each has a unique pattern of crystalization; hence the well known phrase, no two snowflakes identical. Caltech professor of physics, Kenneth Libbrecht, created SnowCrystals.com, where he explains how understanding crystal formation in nature can help us build new and better crystalline materials. 

San Diego Zoo
P.O. Box 120551
San Diego, CA 92112-0551
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