It’s no secret that birds were the inspiration for the first airplanes but, in this episode, host Danni Washington takes a look at how exactly that connection succeeded. She’ll fly planes in tight formation to try to mimic the energy-efficient flight patterns of migrating birds, look at how engi...

Lately, we’ve been turning toward nature more and more while creating our buildings, not just for the materials, but in the way they’re constructed!  In this episode, join host, Danni Washington, as she tours the "living building" known as the Bullit Center. This six-story structure mimics a tree...

Every species found in nature is a survivor, there’s a reason they’ve been on the planet for as long as they have. So host Danni Washington is trying to figure out what humankind can learn from them that we can use to protect ourselves. She’ll explore how fish are helping us to build better armor...

The ocean covers more than 70 percent of our planet’s surface and humankind has only explored about 5% of it. But the diverse wildlife from the areas we have investigated serves as a major source of inspiration for modern technology! Host Danni Washington uses this episode as an opportunity to co...

Everything uses energy but humans are the only species destroying our planet to create it. Host Danni Washington will discover that not only do all other organisms have better means of gathering energy, but by studying their eyes, their fins, and the ways they move we can find ways to improve sol...

One of the first instances of bio-inspiration was Velcro influenced by the sticky burrs of the burdock plant. In this episode, host Danni Washington takes a fascinating and fun look at Velcro and other ways inventors have “stuck” with nature including robots that can scale walls or pick-up any o...

Helicopters took a lot of their early inspiration from one of nature’s most efficient fliers in the dragonfly and host Danni Washington’s going to take one for a spin to see exactly how! She’ll also take a look at how this insect and the wings of owls continue to inspire helicopters and how anoth...

While inventors have been looking toward nature as inspiration for centuries, this science is just starting to come into it’s own and was recently given a name… Biomimicry! Join Danni Washington as we visit all the new places where this science is taking hold, from schools to zoos, to national c...

To many people the thought of sharks can be scary but they’re actually a huge help to our oceans… and have inspired some awesome tech! Danni Washington will take the plunge and swim with sharks, relaying how their skin is being used to fight germs and their senses can help build better robots! ...

Animals in nature have other ways of communicating than you or I do and many of them are able to move collectively in packs called “swarms”. Host Danni Washington takes a look at how today’s scientists are studying this swarm behavior to make better robots that will help in our factories, to col...

Some of the world’s strongest materials are naturally made like the silk spiders use to make their webs which, pound for pound, is actually 5 times stronger than steel. In this episode, Danni Washington will look into how we’re looking toward nature to make our other things stronger… like glass, ...

Drones are all the rage right now… and, thanks to nature, they’re doing things that we never imagined! Join Danni Washington as she explores aerial drones that can perch on walls, dive in and out of water, and communicate in swarms!

Robots are built for all kinds of things and, these days, their inventors are looking toward nature to see how animals can help them to do the things that humans can’t! Join Danni Washington as she checks out tiny robots based on manta rays that are helping to fight heart problems, robots that a...